Spink Township | |
|---|---|
 Street in Spink | |
  Spink Township Location within the state of South Dakota | |
| Coordinates: 42°51′07″N96°44′49″W / 42.85194°N 96.74694°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | South Dakota |
| County | Union |
| Population (2000) | |
• Total | 245 |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
Spink Township is a township in Union County, South Dakota, United States. Its population was 245 at the 2000 census. [1]
Located in western Union County, Spink Township borders the following other townships: [2]
- Emmet Township — north
- Big Springs Township — northeastern corner
- Sioux Valley Township — east
- Richland Township — southeastern corner
- Brule Township — south
- Fairview Township, Clay County — southwestern corner
- Prairie Center Township, Clay County — west
- Garfield Township, Clay County — northwestern corner
A community, also named Spink, was established in the township in 1871. At its peak, the community was strong enough to compete for the title of county seat. [3]
Toward the end of the 20th century only a few business remained in the community of Spink. The Spink Cafe was the center of life in the township and was still a place where farmers would gather. Gary's Repair was a place where people could get the truck or tractor a little work and the old Co-Op that went by the name of Spink Oil was the town's gas station. Spink Oil closed in 1997 and the Spink Cafe was destroyed in a fire in 2019. Today a few homes remain, along with storage facilities for the Union County Dept. of Transportation and a Valley Ag plant and distributor.
A proposed refinery by Hyperion Refining, LLC is now working to build the nation's first new oil refinery in years in the United States, this proposed refinery has created a large split in the corn and bean farmers of Union County. A few family farms were given money for options on the land that makes up the family farms that have been a part of the county since the late 19th century. This split lead to the formation of the save union county group and attracted a lot of media attention.
