Medary is an
unincorporated community in
Brookings County
Brookings County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 34,375, making it the fifth-most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in 18 ...
,
South Dakota, United States.
Founded in 1857 by the Dakota Land Company, it was one of the first towns in South Dakota.
It is not tracked by the
U.S. Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
.
History
Early history
The earliest signs of human activity found in the area date back to 1500 B.C., evidenced through ancient
stone artifacts belonging to many different
Native American peoples, as well as several
burial mounds found in the area. Popular places for early Indian settlements in the county were along the
county's many lakes, including the Oakwood Lakes and
Lake Campbell; and the
Big Sioux River.
Sioux Indian
The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
tribes later settled the area. The
buffalo,
elk
The elk (''Cervus canadensis''), also known as the wapiti, is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in its native range of North America and Central and East Asia. The common ...
, and
deer herds in the area were important parts of Native American and
pioneer
Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land.
In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and dev ...
life. The area had been traveled by
missionaries
A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...
, explorers, merchants and
trappers
Animal trapping, or simply trapping or gin, is the use of a device to remotely catch an animal. Animals may be trapped for a variety of purposes, including food, the fur trade, hunting, pest control, and wildlife management.
History
Neolithic ...
as early as 1750. The first recorded
white man to visit what later became Brookings County was fur-trader Joseph LaFramboise. LaFramboise established a trading post near
Flandreau, running it from 1822 to 1827.
Founding and settlement
Medary was the first official town in Brookings County and was one of the first three settlements in South Dakota, along with
Flandreau and
Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...
. It was named for
Governor Samuel Medary
Samuel Medary (February 25, 1801 – November 7, 1864) was an American newspaper owner and politician.
Biography
Born and raised in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, he settled in Bethel, Ohio, in 1825. After a term in the Ohio House of Represent ...
of
Minnesota Territory.
Medary was located and founded in May 1857
by the Dakota Land Company of
St. Paul,
Minnesota, which was headed by Major Franklin J. DeWitt and Alpheus G. Fuller. On the expedition to locate the claim, the men were joined by engineer Samuel A. Medary, Jr. They became the first residents of the town, staying there for the winter. In early 1858, other settlers began to move to the townsite.
However, in June 1858,
the settlers were driven away by
Yankton and Yanktonnia Indians. Medary was abandoned until 1869, when 10
Norwegian settlers traveled from the east and resettled Medary
at a location just north of the old townsite.
On July 3, 1871, Brookings County was organized in Martin Trygstad's cabin in Medary. The line originally extended to about 2 miles south of Flandreau. The county lines were redrawn by the territorial legislature on January 8, 1873, where they remain today.
The first
post office in Brookings County was established in 1871 with Trygstad as postmaster. Medary was also the location of the first school sessions in Brookings County, which were held in volunteers' homes.
Medary was the first
county seat of Brookings County for a total of eight years, from 1871 to 1879.
Later history and today
Medary and the nearby towns of
Oakwood and
Fountain each hoped that the incoming railroad would decide to go through their town, but they were all bypassed. Instead, the businessmen of Medary and Fountain collaborated and decided to build a town along the planned path of the tracks, which later became
Brookings Brookings may refer to:
Organizations
* Brookings Institution, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
Places
* Brookings, Oregon, USA
* Brookings, South Dakota, USA
* Brookings County, South Dakota, USA ...
in October 1879. Other towns that sprang up along the railroad were
Aurora and
Volga. Several businesses moved from Medary and Fountain to Brookings. The town of Medary has become largely abandoned.
A monument was built on the old site of Medary to commemorate the town's existence at the old site, located at the intersection of 471st Avenue (Brookings County Road 77) and 219th Street (Brookings County Road 22).
Geography
Medary is located in Brookings County, approximately 4.5 miles south of
Brookings Brookings may refer to:
Organizations
* Brookings Institution, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy organization based in Washington, D.C.
Places
* Brookings, Oregon, USA
* Brookings, South Dakota, USA
* Brookings County, South Dakota, USA ...
. Its coordinates are . The
Big Sioux River is located nearby.
Climate
See also
*
Dakota Territory
References
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in South Dakota
Unincorporated communities in Brookings County, South Dakota
1857 establishments in Minnesota Territory
Populated places established in 1857