Jerauld County, South Dakota

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

County Seat: Wessington Springs
Year Organized: 1883
Square Miles: 530

Court House:

PO Box 422
County Courthouse
Wessington Springs, SD 57382-0422

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Jerauld is named for territorial legislator H.A. Jerauld.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

The legislature of 1883 divided Aurora County and named one of the two new areas Jerauld County. The county was named in honor of H. A. Jerauld, a territorial legislator in 1883 when the county was created and organized. Governor Ordway appointed county Commissioners and Wessington Springs was named the county seat.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 533 square miles (1,380 km²), of which, 530 square miles (1,372 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) of it (0.51%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Beadle County, South Dakota - northeast
Sanborn County, South Dakota - east
Aurora County, South Dakota - south
Brule County, South Dakota - southwest
Buffalo County, South Dakota - west
Hand County, South Dakota - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Alpena	town	Incorporated Area
- Anina	township
- Blaine	township
- Chery	township
- Crow	township
- Crow Lake	township
- Dale	UT
- Harmony	township
- Lane	town	Incorporated Area
- Logan	township
- Marlar	township
- Media	township
- Pleasant	township
- Viola	township
- Wessington Springs (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

County Resources

The history of our nation was a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names given the counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of this 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."