McCook County, South Dakota

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

County Seat: Salem
Year Organized: 1873
Square Miles: 575

Court House:

P.O. Box 190
County Courthouse
Salem, SD 57058-0190

Etymology - Origin of County Name

McCook is named for military officer and Dakota Territory secretary Edwin McCook.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

McCook County was organized in January, 1879 and named for Edwin S. McCook, Civil War General and secretary of Dakota Territory in 1872. The county seat was located at Cameron. A great deal of controversy surrounded the location of the county seat. At an election in November of 1879 it was given to Cameron. But the next year the vote went to Bridgewater and in 1882 Salem won the vote.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 577 square miles (1,495 km²), of which, 575 square miles (1,488 km²) of it is land and 3 square miles (7 km²) of it (0.46%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Lake County, South Dakota - northeast
Minnehaha County, South Dakota - east
Turner County, South Dakota - southeast
Hutchinson County, South Dakota - southwest
Hanson County, South Dakota - west
Miner County, South Dakota - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Benton	township
- Bridgewater	city	Incorporated Area
- Brookfield	township
- Canistota	city	Incorporated Area
- Center	township
- Dolton	town	Incorporated Area
- Grant	township
- Greenland	township
- Montrose	city	Incorporated Area
- Pearl	township
- Ramsey	township
- Salem (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Silver Lake	township
- Spencer	city	Incorporated Area
- Spring Valley	township
- Sun Prairie	township
- Union	township

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."