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South Dakota Counties

 

South Dakota County Map

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South Dakota Counties

There are 66 counties in the state of South Dakota

 

 

  		 

e-RD | Resources | 50 States | South Dakota | Counties |

Butte County, South Dakota

Butte County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

 

County Seat: Belle Fourche
Year Organized: 1883
Square Miles: 2,249		 Court House:

839 Fifth Ave
County Courthouse
Belle Fourche, SD 57717-1729
Etymology - Origin of County Name

Butte is named for the local geographical features known as buttes.

 

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

History

Butte County was established in 1883. The county was formed as an outgrowth of a fight over the location of the capital of the Dakota Territory. In January 1883 a session of the Territorial Council was held to determine if Yankton would remain the capital of the Dakota Territory. The session created 59 new counties and a bill passed to divide Lawrence County into two counties, Lawrence and Butte. Governor Ordway designated Minnesela as the county seat. By 1894 Minnesela was a defunct community. Belle Fourche had built a 2-story building and offered it to Butte County if they would move the county seat to Belle Fourche. Following a brief fight, Belle Fourche won by a landslide.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,266 square miles (5,870 kmē), of which, 2,249 square miles (5,824 kmē) of it is land and 18 square miles (46 kmē) of it (0.79%) is water.
 

Neighboring Counties:
  • Harding County, South Dakota - north
  • Perkins County, South Dakota - northeast
  • Meade County, South Dakota - southeast
  • Lawrence County, South Dakota - southwest
  • Crook County, Wyoming - west
  • Carter County, Montana - northwest
     
Cities and Towns:
- Belle Fourche (County Seat) city Incorporated Area
- East Butte UT  
- Fruitdale town Incorporated Area
- Newell city Incorporated Area
- Nisland town Incorporated Area
- Union township  
- Vale township  
- West Butte UT
County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here
 

  

 

County Resource Guide

Counties: US Map

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."
 

 

 

 

 
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