Hutchinson County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 7,427. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Olivet. The county was created in 1862 and organized in 1871; it was named for John Hutchinson, first territorial secretary.

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.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.

Geography

The

James River The James River is a river in the U.S. state of Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed April 1, 2011 to Ches ...

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.''Hutchinson County SD'' Google Maps (accessed February 4, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the river valley from both sides, with the county's highest point at its southwest corner: 1,880' (573m) ASL. Hutchinson County has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 18 * U.S. Highway 81 *

South Dakota Highway 25 South Dakota Highway 25 (SD 25) is a state highway in the eastern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It connects Scotland, Howard, De Smet, and Webster. It consists of two disconnected segments. Its shorter southern segment ex ...

South Dakota Highway 37 } South Dakota Highway 37 (SD 37) is a state route that runs across eastern South Dakota. It begins at the Nebraska border northeast of Niobrara, Nebraska, as a continuation of Nebraska Highway 14. It runs to the North Dakota border north of He ...

* 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 * Weigher Slough State Public Shooting Area

Lakes

* Lake Dimock * Lake Menno * Silver Lake * Tripp Lake

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 8,075 people, 3,190 households, and 2,191 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was . There were 3,517 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.82%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.09%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

, 0.57% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races. 0.52% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race. 63% of the population of Hutchinson County reports German ancestry and 8.3% speak

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

at home. There were 3,190 households, out of which 28.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.50% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 4.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.30% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.03. The county population contained 24.90% under the age of 18, 5.60% from 18 to 24, 22.10% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 26.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 94.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.70 males. The median income for a household in the county was $30,026, and the median income for a family was $37,715. Males had a median income of $25,654 versus $18,141 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $15,922. About 9.60% of families and 13.00% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 18.30% of those under age 18 and 11.30% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 7,343 people, 2,930 households, and 1,871 families in the county. The population density was . There were 3,351 housing units at an average density of . 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

, 8.7% were

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

, 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

, 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 Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Ra ...

-populated county of South Dakota.

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is a ...

Mennonites from Russia settled in the county beginning in 1874 until the early 1880s. South Dakota has the nation's largest population of

Hutterites Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century ...

, a communal

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

group that emigrated also from Russia during the same period as the Mennonites, with whom they share the

faith. Hutterites live in communities each of about 150 people. Wolf Creek Colony is in Hutchinson County, where the Wolf meets the

. This colony is west of Freeman and north of Olivet and Menno. Other Hutterite communities in the county are Maxwell Colony, New Elm Spring Colony, Old Elm Spring Colony, and Tschetter Colony.

Communities

Cities

Freeman Freeman, free men, or variant, may refer to: * a member of the Third Estate in medieval society (commoners), see estates of the realm * Freeman, an apprentice who has been granted freedom of the company, was a rank within Livery companies * Free ...

* 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 * Lake Tripp * Wolf Creek

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 Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

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 Alfred Emanuel Smith (December 30, 1873 – October 4, 1944) was an American politician who served four terms as Governor of New York and was the Democratic Party's candidate for president in 1928. The son of an Irish-American mother and a ...

in the first case and a strong “

favorite son Favorite son (or favorite daughter) is a political term. * At the quadrennial American national political party conventions, a state delegation sometimes nominates a candidate from the state, or less often from the state's region, who is not a ...

” vote for

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American historian and South Dakota politician who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator, and the Democratic Party presidential nominee in the 1972 pre ...

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.

Notes

References

{{coord, 43.34, -97.75, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-SD_source:UScensus1990 1871 establishments in Dakota Territory States and territories established in 1871