Hutchinson County, South Dakota

Hutchinson County
County
Former Hutchinson County Courthouse in Olivet
Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 43°20′N97°45′W / 43.34°N 97.75°W / 43.34; -97.75
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1862 (created) 1871 (organized)
Named for	John Hutchinson
Seat	Olivet
Largest city	Parkston
Area
• Total	814 sq mi (2,110 km2)
• Land	813 sq mi (2,110 km2)
• Water	1.5 sq mi (4 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	7,427
• Estimate  (2023)	7,394
• Density	9.1/sq mi (3.5/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Hutchinson County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 7,427. ^[1] Its county seat is Olivet. ^[2] The county was created in 1862 and organized in 1871; it was named for John Hutchinson, first territorial secretary. ^[3]

History

Hutchinson County was created by act of the territorial legislature on May 8, 1862. Its boundaries included portions of present-day Davison and Hanson Counties, and part of what is presently Hutchinson County was within the boundaries of Jayne County. Maxwell City was established as the county seat, and it remained there until October 1873 when it was moved to Olivet following an election. On 13 January 1871, the territorial legislature established the present county boundaries and completed its governing organization. In two actions in January 1873, the legislature divided Hutchinson County into two counties - the northern half was named Armstrong County, with Milltown as the seat. However, in 1879, Armstrong County was dissolved and its area re-annexed into Hutchinson County. ^{[note 1] [4] [5]}

Geography

The James River flows south-southeasterly through the central part of Hutchinson County. The county's terrain consists of rolling hills, with the area largely devoted to agriculture. ^[6] The terrain slopes to the river valley from both sides, with the county's highest point at its southwest corner: 1,880' (573m) ASL. ^[7]

Hutchinson County has a total area of 814 square miles (2,110 km²), of which 813 square miles (2,110 km²) is land and 1.5 square miles (3.9 km²) (0.2%) is water. ^[8]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 18
• U.S. Highway 81
• South Dakota Highway 25
• South Dakota Highway 37
• South Dakota Highway 44

Adjacent counties

• Hanson County - north
• McCook County - northeast
• Turner County - east
• Yankton County - southeast
• Bon Homme County - south
• Charles Mix County - southwest
• Douglas County - west
• Davison County - northwest

Protected areas

• Mogck Slough State Public Shooting Area ^[6]
• Weigher Slough State Public Shooting Area ^[6]

Lakes

Source: ^[6]

• Lake Dimock
• Lake Menno
• Silver Lake
• Tripp Lake

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1870	37		—
1880	5,573		14,962.2%
1890	10,469		87.9%
1900	11,897		13.6%
1910	12,319		3.5%
1920	13,475		9.4%
1930	13,904		3.2%
1940	12,668		−8.9%
1950	11,423		−9.8%
1960	11,085		−3.0%
1970	10,379		−6.4%
1980	9,350		−9.9%
1990	8,262		−11.6%
2000	8,075		−2.3%
2010	7,343		−9.1%
2020	7,427		1.1%
2023 (est.)	7,394	[9]	−0.4%
U.S. Decennial Census [10] 1790-1960 [11] 1900-1990 [12] 1990-2000 [13] 2010-2020 [1]

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 7,427 people, 2,797 households, and 1,802 families residing in the county. ^[14] The population density was 9.1 inhabitants per square mile (3.5/km²). There were 3,212 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 7,343 people, 2,930 households, and 1,871 families in the county. The population density was 9.0 inhabitants per square mile (3.5/km²). There were 3,351 housing units at an average density of 4.1 units per square mile (1.6 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.4% white, 0.7% American Indian, 0.4% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 67.7% were German, 8.7% were Russian, 7.4% were Norwegian, 6.9% were Irish, and 3.6% were American.

Of the 2,930 households, 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.6% were married couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.1% were non-families, and 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age was 46.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,310 and the median income for a family was $52,390. Males had a median income of $35,180 versus $25,417 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,944. About 6.4% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.5% of those under age 18 and 14.5% of those age 65 or over.

Mennonites and Hutterites

Hutchinson County is the most heavily Mennonite-populated county of South Dakota. German-speaking Mennonites from Russia settled in the county beginning in 1874 until the early 1880s. ^[15] South Dakota has the nation's largest population of Hutterites, ^[16] a communal Anabaptist group that emigrated also from Russia during the same period as the Mennonites, with whom they share the Anabaptist faith. Hutterites live in communities each of about 150 people. Wolf Creek Colony is in Hutchinson County, where the Wolf meets the James River. This colony is west of Freeman and north of Olivet and Menno. ^[17] Other Hutterite communities in the county are Maxwell Colony, New Elm Spring Colony, Old Elm Spring Colony, and Tschetter Colony.

Communities

Cities

• Freeman
• Parkston

Towns

• Dimock
• Menno
• Olivet (county seat)
• Tripp

Census-designated places

• Kaylor
• Maxwell Colony
• Milltown
• New Elm Spring Colony
• Old Elm Spring Colony
• Tschetter Colony
• Wolf Creek Colony

Unincorporated communities

• Clayton ^[6]
• Lake Tripp ^[6]
• Wolf Creek ^[6]

Townships

• Capital
• Clayton
• Cross Plains
• Fair
• Foster
• German
• Grandview
• Kassel
• Kaylor
• Kulm
• Liberty
• Mittown
• Molan
• Oak Hollow
• Pleasant
• Sharon
• Silver Lake
• Starr
• Susquehanna
• Sweet
• Valley
• Wittenberg
• Wolf Creek

Politics

Like most of South Dakota, Hutchinson County is overwhelmingly Republican. Only one Democratic presidential candidate – Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 landslide – has ever carried the county. Surprisingly, in the 1928 and 1972 Republican landslides Hutchinson County actually voted more Democratic than the nation at-large due to German Lutheran anti-Prohibition voting for Al Smith in the first case and a strong “favorite son” vote for George McGovern in the latter. Apart from these two hugely anomalous cases, only four Democrats have ever topped forty percent of the county's vote, and only four statewide Republican nominees failed to win a majority.^{[ citation needed ]}

United States presidential election results for Hutchinson County, South Dakota ^[18]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	2,918	78.10%	755	20.21%	63	1.69%
2020	2,944	78.15%	762	20.23%	61	1.62%
2016	2,517	74.80%	692	20.56%	156	4.64%
2012	2,451	71.56%	923	26.95%	51	1.49%
2008	2,285	63.33%	1,242	34.42%	81	2.25%
2004	2,899	69.91%	1,177	28.38%	71	1.71%
2000	2,497	68.88%	1,052	29.02%	76	2.10%
1996	2,177	55.66%	1,285	32.86%	449	11.48%
1992	2,002	48.17%	1,211	29.14%	943	22.69%
1988	2,700	62.56%	1,594	36.93%	22	0.51%
1984	3,372	72.92%	1,237	26.75%	15	0.32%
1980	3,789	73.15%	1,145	22.10%	246	4.75%
1976	2,822	57.52%	2,062	42.03%	22	0.45%
1972	3,092	57.82%	2,248	42.03%	8	0.15%
1968	3,544	69.07%	1,412	27.52%	175	3.41%
1964	2,884	56.85%	2,189	43.15%	0	0.00%
1960	3,948	71.72%	1,557	28.28%	0	0.00%
1956	3,870	73.16%	1,420	26.84%	0	0.00%
1952	4,322	83.16%	875	16.84%	0	0.00%
1948	2,906	70.01%	1,209	29.13%	36	0.87%
1944	3,799	84.46%	699	15.54%	0	0.00%
1940	5,051	82.08%	1,103	17.92%	0	0.00%
1936	2,804	48.34%	2,500	43.10%	497	8.57%
1932	1,504	28.97%	3,630	69.92%	58	1.12%
1928	2,145	52.61%	1,898	46.55%	34	0.83%
1924	893	24.65%	180	4.97%	2,550	70.38%
1920	1,873	51.15%	243	6.64%	1,546	42.22%
1916	1,636	73.20%	519	23.22%	80	3.58%
1912	0	0.00%	647	30.25%	1,492	69.75%
1908	1,507	69.03%	619	28.36%	57	2.61%
1904	1,752	80.33%	365	16.74%	64	2.93%
1900	1,528	73.46%	534	25.67%	18	0.87%
1896	1,413	74.96%	458	24.30%	14	0.74%
1892	1,034	64.42%	254	15.83%	317	19.75%

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Hutchinson County, South Dakota

Notes

1. The Territorial Legislature ordered the re-uniting of the two counties into one, apparently against the desires of Armstrong County officials. The legislature ordered the county officers of Armstrong County to deliver their records, money and papers to Olivet. However, the Armstrong people refused and continued to serve as county officers until a court decision in 1881 compelled them to surrender the records.

References

1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
3. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p.  164.
4. "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2006. Archived from the original on April 2, 2018. Retrieved March 29, 2015.
5. History, First Circuit Court, SD Unified Justice System (accessed February 4, 2019)
6. "Hutchinson County · South Dakota". Google Maps. Retrieved April 27, 2024.
7. ""Find an Altitude" Google Maps (accessed February 4, 2019)". Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved February 4, 2019.
8. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
9. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2023" . Retrieved March 17, 2024.
10. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
11. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
12. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
13. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Archived (PDF) from the original on October 9, 2022. Retrieved March 26, 2015.
14. "US Census Bureau, Table P16: Household Type". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved March 21, 2024.
15. Unruh, J. D. (1956). "Hutchinson County (South Dakota, USA)". Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. Retrieved July 30, 2015.
16. "Color them plain but successful". The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. Retrieved December 14, 2008.
17. Johnson, Dirk (November 25, 1987). "Wolf Creek Journal; Idealists With a Knack For Being Prosperous". The New York Times . Retrieved June 20, 2015.
18. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 15, 2018.

43°20′N97°45′W / 43.34°N 97.75°W / 43.34; -97.75