Miner County, South Dakota

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

County Seat: Howard
Year Organized: 1873
Square Miles: 570

Court House:

PO Box 86
County Courthouse
Howard, SD 57349-0086

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Miner is named for territorial legislators Nelson Miner and Ephriam Miner.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Miner County was created in 1873 and organized in 1880. It was named for Captain Nelson Miner of Vermillion and Ephriam Miner of Yankton, both of whom were members of the Territorial Legislature in 1873. In 1880 Territorial Governor Ordway named three Commissioners. Forestburg and Howard were contending for the county seat. Howard's victory was said to be due to the large number of graders from out of state working on the railroad. Following a legal battle with citizens from Forestburg, the records were delivered to Howard.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 572 square miles (1,481 km²), of which, 570 square miles (1,477 km²) of it is land and 2 square miles (4 km²) of it (0.29%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Kingsbury County, South Dakota - north
Lake County, South Dakota - east
McCook County, South Dakota - southeast
Hanson County, South Dakota - southwest
Sanborn County, South Dakota - west

Cities and Towns:

- Adams	township
- Beaver	township
- Belleview	township
- Canova	town	Incorporated Area
- Carthage	city	Incorporated Area
- Clearwater	township
- Clinton	township
- Grafton	township
- Green Valley	township
- Henden	township
- Howard (County Seat)	city	Incorporated Area
- Miner	township
- Redstone	township
- Rock Creek	township
- Roswell	town	Incorporated Area
- Vilas	town	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."