Aberdeen () is a city in and the
county seat
A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of
Brown County, South Dakota
Brown County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 38,301, making it the fourth most populous county in South Dakota, and was estimated to be 37,495 in 2024. Its county seat is Aberdeen. The ...
, United States.
As of the
2020 census, its population was 28,495.
making it the
third-most populous city in the state. Aberdeen is home of
Northern State University.
History
Settlement
Before Aberdeen or Brown County was inhabited by European settlers, it was inhabited by the
Sioux Indians from approximately 1700 to 1879. Europeans entered the region for business, founding
fur trading
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...
posts during the 1820s; these trading posts operated until the mid-1830s. The first "settlers" of this region were the
Arikara
The Arikara ( ), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011) ...
Indians, but they would later be joined by others.
The first group of Euro-American settlers to reach the area that is now Brown County was a party of four people, three horses, two mules, fifteen cattle, and two wagons. This group of settlers was later joined by another group the following spring, and, eventually, more settlers migrated toward this general area, currently known as
Columbia, South Dakota. This town was established on June 15, 1879, was settled in 1880,
and was incorporated in 1882.
Creation of the town
Aberdeen, like many towns of the Midwest, was built around the newly developing railroad systems. Aberdeen was first officially plotted as a town site on January 3, 1881, by Charles Prior, the superintendent of the Minneapolis office of the
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad, or the Milwaukee Road for short, which was presided over by
Alexander Mitchell, Charles Prior's boss, who was responsible for the choice of town names. He was born in
Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
, Scotland, after which the town of Aberdeen was named.
Aberdeen was officially founded on July 6, 1881, the date of the first arrival of a Milwaukee Railroad train. Aberdeen then operated under a city charter granted by the Territorial Legislature in March 1883.
As Aberdeen grew, many businesses and buildings were constructed along the town's Main Street. However, this soon became a problem due to Aberdeen's periodic flooding, which led to it being referred to as "The Town in the Frog Pond". At first, this unique condition presented no problem to the newly constructed buildings because it had not rained very much but, when heavy rains fell, the Pond reappeared and flooded the basements of every building on Main Street, causing many business owners and home owners much turmoil. When this flooding happened, the city had one steam-powered pump that had to be used to dry out the entire area that had been flooded, which would take days, if not weeks – and more often than not, it would have rained again in this time period and caused even more flooding, even in the basements that had already been emptied of the water. When the water was gone from the basements, the city still had to deal with the mud that also resulted from the heavy rains.
The city decided in 1882 to build an artesian ditch to control the "Frog Pond" effects; the plan was later upgraded and developed into an artesian well in 1884 to combat the heavy rains and keep the basements from flooding. The artesian well was designed by the city engineers to prevent flooding and develop a water system. However, during the digging of the well, the water stream that was found underground was too powerful to be contained. The water came blasting out with violent force and had the entire Main Street submerged in up to four feet of water. The engineers realized the previous flaws of the artesian well plan and soon added a gate valve to the well to control the flow of water, giving Aberdeen its first working water supply.
Aberdeen had four different railroad companies with depots built in the newly developing town. With these four railroads intersecting here, Aberdeen soon became known as the "Hub City of the Dakotas". When looking down on Aberdeen from above, the railroad tracks converging in Aberdeen resembled the spokes of a wheel converging at a hub, hence the name "Hub City of the Dakotas". These four railroad companies are the reason why Aberdeen was able to grow and flourish as it did. The only railroad still running through Aberdeen is the
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
.
L. Frank Baum, who was later author of the book ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' and its many sequels, lived here with his wife and children from 1888 to 1891. He ran a fancy goods store, Baum's Bazaar, for over a year, which failed. He later published one of the city's then nine newspapers, where he used his editorials to campaign for women's suffrage (a suffrage amendment to the new South Dakota constitution was on the ballot at the time). The city's small amusement park has some features reflective of the Oz series. After his sojourn in Aberdeen, he moved to Chicago in 1892.
Five sitting
Presidents of the United States
The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. Under the U.S. Constitution, the officeholder leads the executive bra ...
have visited Aberdeen:
William McKinley
William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...
in 1899,
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
in 1903,
William Howard Taft
William Howard Taft (September 15, 1857March 8, 1930) served as the 27th president of the United States from 1909 to 1913 and the tenth chief justice of the United States from 1921 to 1930. He is the only person to have held both offices. ...
in 1911,
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
in 1936, and
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
in 200
Geography
Aberdeen is located in northeastern South Dakota, in the
James River (Dakotas), James River valley, approximately west of the river. The James River enters northeastern South Dakota in Brown County, where it is dammed to form two reservoirs northeast of Aberdeen. The city is bisected by ''Moccasin Creek'', a slow-moving waterway which flows south and then northeast to the James River.
According to the
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.
Climate
Aberdeen experiences a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfa'') influenced by its position far from moderating bodies of water. This brings four distinct seasons, a phenomenon that is characterized by hot, relatively humid summers and cold, dry winters, and it lies in
USDA Hardiness Zone 4b. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July, while there are 16 days of + highs and 38 days with sub- lows annually.
Snowfall occurs mostly in light to moderate amounts during the winter, totaling . Precipitation, at annually, is concentrated in the warmer months. Extreme temperatures have ranged from on January 12, 1912, and February 8, 1895, to on July 6 and 15, 1936, although a reading occurred as recently as January 15, 2009.
Demographics
Aberdeen is the principal city of the Aberdeen Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Brown and
Edmunds counties and has a population of 42,287 in 2020.
2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 28,495 people and 12,114 households in the city.
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 26,091 people, 11,418 households and 6,354 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 12,158 housing units at an average density of . The racial make-up was 91.8% White, 0.7% African American, 3.6% Native American, 1.3% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races and 2.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.6% of the population.
There were 11,418 households, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.1% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.4% were non-families. 36.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.86.
The median age was 36.4 years. 22.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 12.8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 24.4% were from 45 to 64; and 16.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender make-up of the city was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 24,658 people, 10,553 households and 6,184 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 11,259 housing units at an average density of . The racial make-up of the city was 94.61% White, 0.37% Black or African American, 3.17% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 0.13% Pacific Islander, 0.19% from other races and 0.99% from two or more races. 0.79% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 53.7% were of German, 15% Norwegian and 8.5%
Irish ancestry.
There were 10,553 households, of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were married couples living together, 8.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.4% were non-families. 34.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.86.
21.8% of the population were under the age of 18, 14.1% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.2% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.3 males.
The
median household income
The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of und ...
was $33,276 and the median family income was $43,882. Males had a median income of $30,355 and females $20,092. The per capita income was $17,923. About 7.6% of families and 10.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.6% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.
Religion
There are several Roman Catholic, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist, Pentecostal, Lutheran, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Nazarere, and Non-denominational churches in the area, as well as one synagogue.
Economy
Major employers
Super 8 Motels
Super 8 Motels was founded in 1972 by Dennis Brown and Ron Rivett as a motel referral system, which was replaced with a franchise operation in 1973. The first Super 8, with 60 rooms, was opened in 1974 in Aberdeen and still operates today as the Super 8 Aberdeen East.
Arts and culture
The Aberdeen Area Arts Council publishes a small monthly newspaper, ''ARTiFACTS'', with information on area events.
The Aberdeen Community Theatre was created in 1979 and performs at the Capitol Theatre in downtown Aberdeen. The Capitol Theatre opened in 1927 and donated to the Aberdeen Community Theatre in 1991; since then more than $963,000 has been spent on renovating and preserving the historical aspect of the Capitol Theatre. Today, the Aberdeen Community Theatre performs five mainstage productions and three youth productions per year.
The South Dakota Film Festival established in 2007 is held annually in the fall. The festival has been host to Kevin Costner, Graham Greene, Adam Greenberg, CSA and many more stars of film and television. The festival's first feature film screened was ''Into The Wild'', shot partially in SD. The festival is held at the historic Capitol Theatre.
The Northern State University Theater Department puts on plays during the school year.
There are four galleries in Aberdeen: Presentation College's Wein Gallery,
Northern State University's Lincoln Gallery, the Aberdeen Recreation & Cultural Center (ARCC) Gallery and the ArtWorks Cooperative Gallery located in The Aberdeen Mall.
Sports
Bowling
The Village Bowl in Aberdeen is a modern bowling center with multiple lanes. Located at 1314 8th Ave NW.
Minor league baseball
Aberdeen has had three minor league baseball teams since 1920. The Aberdeen Boosters, a class D league team, played in 1920, the Aberdeen Grays, also a class D team, played from 1921 to 1923. The class C
Aberdeen Pheasants from 1946 to 1971, and 1995 to 1997. The Pheasants were the affiliate of the former
St. Louis Browns (and current
Baltimore Orioles
The Baltimore Orioles (also known as the O's) are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East Division. As one of the America ...
). Aberdeen was a stop to the majors for such notable players as
Don Larsen (perfect game in the World Series),
Lou Piniella
Louis Victor Piniella ( usually ; born August 28, 1943) is a former professional baseball player and manager. An outfielder, he played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians, Kansas City Royals a ...
(AL rookie of the year with
Kansas City Royals
The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...
in 1969), and
Jim Palmer,
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by a private foundation. It serves as the central collection and gathering space for the history of baseball in the United S ...
pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles. In the 1960s, the Pheasants were Coached by Cal Ripken Sr, who later ended up being a Major League Coach and had two sons Cal Jr. and Billy that also played for the Orioles organization.
On June 8, 2024, the first SABR Historical Marker in the state of South Dakota was revealed on the campus of Northern State University. It was the 60th anniversary to the day when the Baltimore Orioles played an exhibition game at the ballpark.
Tennis
Aberdeen has 19 public tennis courts throughout the city – Melgaard Park (4), Northern State University (6), and Holgate Middle School (8).
Golf
Aberdeen has three golf courses: Lee Park Municipal Golf Course, Moccasin Creek Country Club and Rolling Hills Country Club. Lee Park and Moccasin Creek are both 18-hole courses. Rolling Hills is a combined nine-hole course and housing development which opened in 2005.
Hockey/ice skating
Aberdeen has several outdoor skating rinks and hockey rinks open to the public during winter months. Aberdeen is also home to the NAHL team,
Aberdeen Wings.
Skateboarding/rollerblading
Aberdeen has a skate park located between East Melgaard Road and 17th Ave SE at Melgaard Park. The equipment installed includes a quarter pipe, penalty box with half pyramid, bank ramp, spine, kinked rail and a ground rail.
Disc golf
Aberdeen has two disc golf courses, Melgaard Park, and the Richmond Lake Disc Golf Course.
Roller Derby
Aberdeen has an All-women's Roller Derby league "A-Town Roller Girlz" established in 2011, also bringing Junior Roller Derby to the area.
Parks and recreation
Aberdeen Family YMCA
The full service YMCA includes an aquatic center with a competitive size lap pool, zero depth entry recreation pool with play features and hot tub. There are three gyms one of which has a climbing wall. There are two racquetball courts. Saunas and steam rooms are in the men's and women's locker rooms. Over 100 group fitness classes are offered each week with child watch available (short term childcare). A wellness center that has cardio equipment, weight machines and free weights.
Family Aquatic Center
Completed in the summer of 2007, this complex includes a zero entry pool, competition lap pool, lazy river, numerous water slides, play sand area, and a concession area.
Wylie Park Recreation Area
Wylie Park Recreation Area features go-kart racing, sand volleyball courts, access to Wylie Lake, camping area, picnic areas, and is connected to Storybook Land. Wylie Lake is a small man-made lake, open in the summer months for swimming, lying on the beach, and paddle boating.
Storybook Land
Storybook Land is a park with attractions from several different children's storybooks. The park contains a castle, as well as a train that takes visitors through the park. There are two barns which contain petting zoos. Humpty Dumpty's Great Fall Roller Coaster was added to the park, summer 2015. Newly added is the Land of Oz, that features characters and attractions from
L. Frank Baum's ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''. Baum was a resident of Aberdeen in the 1880s. He left after a severe drought led to the failure first of his variety store Baum's Bazaar, and then to his newspaper ''The Aberdeen Saturday Pioneer'', where he wrote an opinion column titled ''
Our Landlady''.
Kuhnert Arboretum
The Kuhnert Arboretum provides many new learning experiences for the residents of the Aberdeen area, including school-aged children. The Arboretum offers environmental education, a children's area, rose garden collection, recreational trails and much more.
Richmond Lake Recreation Area
The Richmond Lake Recreation Area is used by all types of outdoors enthusiasts. Three separate areas in this park cater to the needs of campers, swimmers, naturalists, boaters and anglers. Campers stay in the South Unit, while the Forest Drive Unit is a great place for wildlife viewing. The Boat Ramp Unit provides access to the more than lake.
Richmond Lake Recreation Area's small campground offers a quiet camping experience. The park also features a wheelchair accessible camping cabin.
The park's extensive trail system features over of trails, including both accessible and interpretive trails. Hikers, bikers, and horseback riders can observe the abundance of prairie plants and wildlife of the area up-close.
The park has multiple private and public boat ramps as well as an accessible fishing dock. Richmond Lake has a population of walleye, northern pike, bass, perch, crappie, bluegill, catfish, and bullheads within its waters. An entrance fee is required to gain access to the water and park itself.
Government
Aberdeen is the center of government for Brown County. City government is overseen by a City Manager/Council form of government with a mayor and eight council members. The City Manager is Robin Bobzien, and the City Council is composed of Mayor Travis Shaunaman and Council Members Char Liebelt, Rich Ward, Erin Fouberg, Rob Ronayne, Alan Johnson, Tiffany Langer, David Novstup and Justin Reinbold. Each council member serves a five-year term.

County government is overseen by five commissioners. Each county commissioner serves a five-year term. The county commissioners include Duane Sutton, Drew Dennert, Mike Wiese, Mike Gage, and Doug Fjeldheim. Aberdeen is home to Brown County offices including clerk-magistrate, county auditor, landfill office, register of deeds, county treasurer, coroner, emergency management, highway superintendent, public welfare, state's attorney, and a few others.
The state senators from Brown County include
Brock Greenfield and
Al Novstrup, and the state representatives included
Lana Greefield,
Kaleb Wies,
Carl Perry and
Drew Dennert. They are all in office until December 2020
In 2008, Governor
Mike Rounds named Aberdeen as the South Dakota Community of the Year.
Education
Public schools
Aberdeen Public Schools are part of the
Aberdeen School District. The school district has six elementary schools, two middle schools, and one high school.
The elementary schools are C.C. Lee Elementary School, Lincoln Elementary School, May Overby Elementary School, O.M. Tiffany Elementary School, Simmons Elementary School and Mike Miller Elementary School. The two middle schools are Holgate Middle School, which serves the north side of Aberdeen, and Simmons Middle School, which serves the south side of the city. Students in the district attend
Central High School. The Hub Area Technical School is located in the district. Aberdeen also has an alternative middle and high school.
The Aberdeen School District's enrollment for the year 2011–2012 was approximately 3,945 students, and the average class size was in the low to mid-twenties. Due to a projected increase in enrollment and the modernization of facilities, Simmons Middle School was completely remodeled with the demolition of the original 1929 building and the addition of a new classroom and cafeteria building which was completed in August 2008. The public school in Aberdeen is AA under the SDHSAA.
Parochial schools
Aberdeen has several parochial schools, including the Catholic-affiliated
Roncalli High School, the nondenominational Aberdeen Christian School, and Trinity Lutheran School of the
WELS
Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...
.
Special programs
The
South Dakota School for the Blind and Visually Impaired is a state special school under the direction of the
South Dakota Board of Regents.
Higher education
Northern State University
Northern State University (NSU) is a public university that was founded in 1901
and today occupies a campus. 2,528 students, ranging from first-year to graduate students, attended NSU for the 2006–2007 school year. The student-to-teacher ratio is 19:1.
NSU was originally called the Institute of South Dakota before changing its name to Northern Normal and Industrial School in 1901. It changed its name again in 1939 when it became the Northern State Teachers College, and again in 1964, becoming Northern State College before finalizing as Northern State University in 1989.
NSU offers thirty-eight majors and forty-two minors as well as other degrees, and also has nine graduate degree areas for students wishing to further their education after achieving their first degree.
The mascot of NSU is the wolf named Thunder.
Presentation College
Presentation College was a Catholic college on a campus, and was founded in 1951.
Enrollment in fall 2014 was reported to be 735. PC offers 26 programs between the main Aberdeen campus and the other campuses located throughout the state. Most of the degrees offered are in the health-care field. The student to teacher ratio is 12:1. Presentation's mascot is the Saint, giving it the nickname the Presentation College Saints. Presentation College announced that it would no longer take new enrollments, and closed the college at the end of the summer semester in 2023.
Media
''
The American News'' was founded as a weekly newspaper in 1885, by C.W. Starling and Paul Ware. It is now a daily newspaper.
Television
AM radio
FM radio
Infrastructure
Transportation
Air
The
Aberdeen Regional Airport is currently served by
Delta Connection
Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...
. It offers flights to
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport using the
Bombardier CRJ550 aircraft.
Roadways
There are two major US highways that serve Aberdeen. One is
US Highway 281, a north–south highway that runs continuously from the Canadian border to the Mexican border, the only three-digit U.S. highway to do so. This also makes it the longest three-digit U.S. highway. The second highway is
US Highway 12 that runs east–west across northern South Dakota from the
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
border before curving northwest into the southwestern corner of North Dakota. The western terminus is in Aberdeen, Washington, and the eastern terminus is in downtown Detroit, Michigan. US Highway 12 is the major thoroughfare in Aberdeen, and is signed in the city of Aberdeen as 6th Avenue South. US Highway 281 was recently realigned onto a new bypass that was constructed around the western area of the city.
Intercity Bus
Jefferson Lines
Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States.
History
The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...
is a bus service from Aberdeen that connects to
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Sioux Falls ( ) is the List of cities in South Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the List of United States cities by population, 117th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha Coun ...
,
Fargo, North Dakota
Fargo is the List of cities in North Dakota, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, Cass County. The population was 125,990 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, which was e ...
, and
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
.
Public Transit
Ride Line Transportation Services provides
demand response
Demand response is a change in the power consumption of an electric utility customer to better match the demand for power with the supply. Until the 21st century decrease in the cost of pumped storage and batteries, electric energy could not b ...
service to the Aberdeen area. Aberdeen is the largest city in South Dakota without fixed-route service.
Railroads
The
BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...
conveys freight and grain through Aberdeen. Until 1969 the
Milwaukee Road
The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...
ran trains between Aberdeen and
Minneapolis
Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...
. Earlier, until 1961, trains from Chicago to Seattle ran through the railroad's
Aberdeen station. Burlington Northern purchased parts of the Milwaukee Road's "Pacific Extension" into Montana when the Milwaukee Road when bankrupt and ended service in 1977.
In addition, the
Great Northern Railway was absorbed into the Burlington Northern in March 1970 with the merger of the Spokane, Portland, & Seattle Railway, the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy Railroad, and the Northern Pacific Railway into one railroad company. The former Great Northern trackage was later purchased from Burlington Northern by
Dakota, Missouri Valley & Western Railroad.
The
Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway had a lightly used branch line from Donde South Dakota through Aberdeen, South Dakota to Long Lake, South Dakota and this line became Chicago & Northwestern Railway property when the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway merged with the
Chicago & Northwestern Railway October 1960.
Chicago & Northwestern already had a lightly used branch line from James Valley Junction, South Dakota to Oakes, North Dakota. All the lines saw little traffic and were eventually abandoned by the
Chicago and Northwestern before its 1995 merger with the
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad is a Railroad classes, Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United Stat ...
.
Taxi
Aberdeen Taxi service provides general taxi service in Aberdeen. Aberdeen Shuttle provides shuttle service to and from the airport along with general taxi services.
Car rental
There are five car rental services in Aberdeen: Hertz, Avis, Dollar-Thrifty, Toyota Rent-a-Car, and Nissan Rental Car. Hertz and Avis Car rental are located in the airport terminal. Dollar-Thrifty is located in Aberdeen Flying Service. Toyota Rent-a-Car and Nissan Rental Car are located at Harr Motors across from the airport.
Healthcare
Aberdeen has two hospitals, Avera St. Luke's Hospital and Sanford Aberdeen Medical Center.
There are several nursing homes in the area, including Avera Mother Joseph Manor,
Manor Care, Bethesda Home of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Health and Rehab, Angelhaus and Gellhaus Carehaus.
Notable people
*
Michael Andrew, Olympic
swimmer
*
Bruce Baillie, experimental filmmaker, founding member of
Canyon Cinema
*
Sam Barry, Hall of Fame basketball, football and baseball coach
*
L. Frank Baum, famous for his book ''
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz''
*
Joshua Becker,
minimalist writer
*
Jerry Burke, organist for
Lawrence Welk
Lawrence Welk (March 11, 1903 – May 17, 1992) was an American accordionist, bandleader, and television impresario, who hosted ''The Lawrence Welk Show'' from 1951 to 1982. The program was known for its light and family-friendly style, and the ...
*
John Cacavas, Hollywood
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
composer
*
Emma Amelia Cranmer, temperance reformer, woman suffragist, writer
*
Tom Daschle, former
U.S. senator and
Senate majority leader
*
Drew Dennert, member of the
South Dakota House of Representatives
The South Dakota House of Representatives is the lower house of the South Dakota Legislature. It consists of 70 members, two from each legislative district. Two of the state's 35 legislative districts, Districts 26 and 28, are each subdivided ...
*
Justin Duchscherer,
MLB
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...
pitcher for the
Oakland Athletics
The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...
*
Thomas Dunn, conductor who contributed to
early music revival
An early music revival is a renewed interest in music from ancient history or prehistory. The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when Eu ...
*
Sara K. Dye, M.D. (Sac and Fox/Shawnee), surgeon dedicating to reducing diabetes-related amputations
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Fischer quintuplets, the first surviving
quintuplets
''Quintuplets'' is an American television sitcom that aired 22 episodes on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from June 16, 2004, to January 12, 2005. The program starred Andy Richter and Rebecca Creskoff and shared some of their experiences parent ...
in the United States were born in Aberdeen in 1963
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Terry Francona, baseball manager
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Matilda Joslyn Gage,
suffragist, Native American activist and author
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Hamlin Garland, author of the ''Middle Border'' series.
*
Mary GrandPré, illustrator
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Matt Guthmiller, Once the youngest person to circumnavigate the globe by air
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Joseph Hansen, mystery writer
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Charles N. Herreid,
Governor of South Dakota
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Josh Heupel Football player and coach
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Ron Holgate, singer and actor
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Buel Hutchinson, lawyer and politician
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Colton Iverson (born 1989), basketball player for
Bàsquet Club Andorra
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David C. Jones,
USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
general
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
and former chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...
*
Roland Loomis, key figure in the
modern primitive
Modern primitives or urban primitives are adherents of an Alternative lifestyle, alternative subculture in Developed country, developed, Western world, Western countries who engage in body modification rituals and practices inspired by the cere ...
movement
*
Kenneth J. Meier, political scientist,
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...
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Don Meyer college basketball coach
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Saul Phillips college basketball coach
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Ron Rivett, founder of Super 8 Motels and My Place hotels
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Paul Sather college basketball coach
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Julie Sommars
Julie Sommars (born April 15, 1940) is an American actress. She won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy for her role in '' The Governor & J.J.'' in 1970, and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for ...
, actress
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Eddie Spears, actor
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Michael Spears, actor
Notes
References
External links
City websiteCommunity website*
{{Authority control
Cities in South Dakota
Cities in Brown County, South Dakota
County seats in South Dakota
Populated places established in 1880
1880 establishments in Dakota Territory