Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Kingsbury County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,187.<ref name="QF">Template:Cite web</ref> Its county seat is De Smet.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county was created in 1873, and was organized in 1880.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was named for brothers George W. and T. A. Kingsbury, descendants of the colonial English Kingsbury family in Boston, Massachusetts. They were prominently involved in the affairs of Dakota Territory and served as elected members of several Territorial Legislatures.

History

John C. Fremont surveyed the area in 1838, naming lakes Preston and Albert.<ref name="HistorySD">History of Southeastern Dakota, Its Settlement and Growth (Sioux City, Iowa: Western Publishing Company, 1881), 270–272.</ref> The 1851 Treaty of Mendota with the Santee Sioux and the 1858 Yankton Treaty ceded the region for American settlement.<ref name="Robinson">Robinson, Doane, History of South Dakota (B.F. Bowen & Co., 1904), 136.</ref> American presence was minimal until the Dakota Boom, with the notable exception of Jacob Hanson's settlement at Lake Albert in 1873.<ref name="Robinson" />

Settlement surged in 1879 with the Chicago & North Western Railroad’s extension to De Smet.<ref name="HistorySD" /> Kingsbury County was created in 1873, named for territorial legislators George W. and T. A. Kingsbury and was organized on December 13, 1879 with De Smet as the county seat.<ref name="HistorySD" /> Settlements at Lake Preston, Arlington, and Iroquois grew rapidly, driven by the railroad and fertile prairie lands. By 1880, the county’s population reached 1,234.<ref name="HistorySD" />

Agriculture, particularly corn and wheat, anchored early economic growth, with towns like Lake Preston boasting mills and newspapers by 1881.<ref name="HistorySD" /> De Smet gained fame as the setting for Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series, including The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie, chronicling her family’s life there from 1879.<ref>Robinson, 137.</ref>

Geography

The terrain of Kingsbury County consists of low rolling hills. The central and east portions of the county hold numerous lakes and ponds. The land is largely devoted to agriculture.<ref name="KCSD">Template:Cite web</ref> The terrain generally slopes to the southwest, and the highest point is near the midpoint of the east boundary line, at Template:Convert ASL.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The county has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert (6.2%) is water.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Lakes

Source:<ref name=KCSD/> Template:Div col

• Cherry Lake
• Mud Lake
• Lake Albert
• Lake Badger
• Lake Henry
• Lake Iroquois
• Lake Preston
• Lake Thisted
• Lake Thompson
• Lake Whitewood
• Osceola Lake
• Plum Lake
• Spring Lake
• Spirit Lake
• Twin Lakes (partial)

Major highways

• File:US 14.svg U.S. Highway 14
• File:US 81.svg U.S. Highway 81
• File:SD 25.svg South Dakota Highway 25

Adjacent counties

• Hamlin County – northeast
• Brookings County – east
• Lake County – southeast
• Miner County – south
• Sanborn County – southwest
• Beadle County – west
• Clark County – northwest

Protected areas

• Arnold State Public Shooting Area<ref name=KCSD/>

Demographics

Industrialization of agriculture and the attraction of urban areas have contributed to the decline in population of Kingsbury County, similar to what has occurred in other Plains rural areas. In 2010 it had less than half the population of its peak in 1930, before the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. Template:US Census population

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 5,187 people, 2,191 households, and 1,398 families residing in the county.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The population density was Template:Convert. There were 2,615 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 5,148 people, 2,222 households, and 1,418 families in the county. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 2,720 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the county was 98.1% white, 0.5% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of European ancestry, 42.8% were German, 25.5% were Norwegian, 10.9% were Danish, 9.6% were Irish, 7.2% were English, and 3.5% were American.

Of the 2,222 households, 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.2% were non-families, and 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 47.1 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,948 and the median income for a family was $56,925. Males had a median income of $35,585 versus $28,141 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,660. About 7.0% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• De Smet (county seat)
• Arlington (partial)
• Iroquois (partial)
• Lake Preston
• Oldham

Towns

• Badger
• Bancroft
• Erwin
• Hetland

Census-designated place

• Spring Lake Colony

Unincorporated communities

• Esmond
• Osceola

Ghost town

• Manchester

Townships

• Badger
• Baker
• De Smet
• Denver
• Esmond
• Hartland
• Iroquois
• Le Sueur
• Manchester
• Mathews
• Spirit Lake
• Spring Lake
• Whitewood

Notable people

• Harvey Dunn - painter and professor of Fine Arts
• Eugene Peter Knudsen - Minnesota state legislator and farmer
• Theodore Schultz - Nobel prize winning economist
• Laura Ingalls Wilder - author

Politics

Kingsbury County voters have been reliably Republican for decades. In only two national elections since 1932 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024). Template:PresHead Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresRow Template:PresFoot

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kingsbury County, South Dakota

External links

• Official website

Further reading

• Johnson, Lyle R. "Decades of Drought: A Year by Year-by-Year Account of Weather-Related Changes in 1930s Kingsbury County," South Dakota History 43 (Fall 2013), 218–44.