Harding County, South Dakota: History and Information

Harding County, South Dakota

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

County Seat: Buffalo
Year Organized: 1909
Square Miles: 2,671

Court House:

P.O. Box 26
County Courthouse
Buffalo, SD 57720-0026

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Harding is named for territorial legislator J. A. Harding.

Demographics:

History

Harding County was established in 1881 and named for J. A. Harding, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Dakota Territory at that time. An 1898 general election changed the boundaries of Butte County to include Harding County. In 1908 it was separated from Butte County and again became Harding County with its present boundaries. Buffalo became the county seat in November of 1910.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,678 square miles (6,935 km²), of which, 2,670 square miles (6,917 km²) of it is land and 7 square miles (18 km²) of it (0.26%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Bowman County, North Dakota - north

Adams County, North Dakota - northeast

Perkins County, South Dakota - east

Butte County, South Dakota - south

Carter County, Montana - west

Fallon County, Montana - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Buffalo (County Seat)

town

Incorporated Area

- Camp Crook

town

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

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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