Editing Faith, South Dakota (section)

==History==
According to [[folk etymology]], the town was named Faith because it took [[faith]] to live out on the [[prairie]].<ref>{{cite book|author=Federal Writers' Project|author-link=Federal Writers' Project|title=South Dakota place-names, v.1-3|url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015027015455;view=1up;seq=107|year=1940|publisher=University of South Dakota|page=37}}</ref> However, the story of the city as documented in various informal, locally published histories, is that the town was named for [[Faith Rockefeller]], one of the daughters of a major investor in the railroad responsible for founding the town.<ref name="faithofficial">{{cite web|url= http://www.faithsd.com/|title= City of Faith, South Dakota|publisher= City of Faith, South Dakota|access-date= July 28, 2012|archive-date= April 18, 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120418195523/http://www.faithsd.com/|url-status= dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Moyer|first1=Armond|last2=Moyer|first2=Winifred|title=The origins of unusual place-names|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89058322223;view=1up;seq=52|year=1958|publisher=Keystone Pub. Associates|page=48}}</ref> This is in keeping with the names of other towns on the route of the old railroad (now abandoned), such as [[Isabel, South Dakota]]. Faith was the permanent end of the railroad, a local spur off the [[Milwaukee Road Railroad]]. The city was established in 1910.<ref name="faithofficial"/>

Founded as the town at the end of the railroad, Faith was originally the hub of a homestead boom in the period 1910–1920; but the drought conditions of the 1920s that led to the [[Dust Bowl]] of the 1930s quickly replaced abnormally wet conditions of the early 20th century, and the harsh winters of the northern plains quickly drove many sodbusters to more hospitable regions. The town's location allows for ranch families in the area to have schools and stores closer than Sturgis, Fort Pierre, or other regional market towns, but early expectations of steady growth were never realized. Faith is still well known for its rodeos and livestock sales. The town's location made it a necessary stop on the Sunset Trail, also known as the [[Yellowstone Trail]].