Yankton County, South Dakota

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

County Seat: Yankton
Year Organized: 1862
Square Miles: 522

Court House:

PO Box 137
County Courthouse
Yankton, SD 57078-0137

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Yankton is named for the Yankton Sioux Native American people.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick Facts

County History

Yankton County was named for the Yankton tribe of Sioux Indians who lived in this region at the time settlement was begun in 1858. The first legislature for Dakota Territory convened under the Governor's call at Yankton, March 17, 1862. At this session Yankton was made the permanent capital of the Territory and a bill was passed establishing Yankton County.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 533 square miles (1,379 km²), of which, 522 square miles (1,351 km²) of it is land and 11 square miles (29 km²) of it (2.08%) is water. It is bordered by the Missouri River.

Neighboring Counties:

Turner County, South Dakota - northeast
Clay County, South Dakota - east
Cedar County, Nebraska - southeast
Knox County, Nebraska - southwest
Bon Homme County, South Dakota - west
Hutchinson County, South Dakota - northwest

Cities and Towns:

- Gayville	town	Incorporated Area
- Jamesville	township
- Lesterville	town	Incorporated Area
- Marindahl	township
- Mission Hill	town	Incorporated Area
- Southeast Yankton	UT
- Turkey Valley	township
- Utica	town	Incorporated Area
- Volin	town	Incorporated Area
- Walshtown	township
- West Yankton	UT
- Yankton (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."