Roberts County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers 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 sover ...

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 United States census of 2020 was the twenty-fourth decennial United States census. Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2020. Other than a pilot study during the 2000 census, this was the first U.S. census to of ...

, the population was 10,280. 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 st ...

Sisseton Sisseton is a city in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,479 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Roberts County. Sisseton is the home to a number of tourist attractions, including the Nicollet Tower, and ...

. The county was named either for S. G. Roberts of

Fargo, North Dakota Fargo ( /ˈfɑɹɡoʊ/) is a city in and the county seat of Cass County, North Dakota, United States. According to the 2020 census, its population was 125,990, making it the most populous city in the state and the 219th-most populous city in ...

, or for Solomon Robar, an early local French

fur trader 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, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the mos ...

. It was created on March 8, 1883, and fully organized by August 6 of that year. Its boundary was altered once, in 1885.

Geography

Roberts County is at South Dakota's northeastern corner. Its eastern boundary abuts

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

(across the

Bois de Sioux River The Bois de Sioux River () drains Lake Traverse, the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay watershed of North America. It is a tributary of the Red River of the North and defines part of the western border of the U.S. state of Minnesota, ...

), and its northern boundary abuts

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

. The Cottonwood Slough flows southward, draining the upper portion of the county into the River. The terrain consists of rolling hills, devoted to agriculture.''Roberts County SD'' Google Maps (accessed 8 February 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east; its highest point is on its upper western boundary line, at 2,047' (624m) ASL. Roberts County has an area of , of which is land and (3.1%) is water. The

Traverse Gap The Traverse Gap is an ancient river channel occupied by Lake Traverse, Big Stone Lake and the valley connecting them at Browns Valley, Minnesota. It is located on the border of the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. Traverse Gap has an ...

is in eastern Roberts County along the

border. The

Lake Traverse Indian Reservation The Lake Traverse Indian Reservation is the homeland of the federally recognized Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate, a branch of the Santee Dakota group of Native Americans. Most of the reservation covers parts of five counties in northeastern South Dakota ...

covers most of the county.

Major highways

Interstate 29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba ...

U.S. Route 12 U.S. Route 12 (US 12) is an east–west United States Numbered Highways, United States highway, running from Aberdeen, Washington, to Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, for almost . The highway has mostly been superseded by Interstate 90 (I-90) an ...

U.S. Route 81 U.S. Route 81 or U.S. Highway 81 (US 81) is a major north–south U.S. highway that extends for in the central United States and is one of the original United States Numbered Highways established in 1926 by the American Association of Stat ...

* South Dakota Highway 10 *

South Dakota Highway 15 South Dakota Highway 15 (SD 15) is a State highway#United States, state highway in the northeastern South Dakota, United States. It connects Clear Lake, South Dakota, Clear Lake, Milbank, South Dakota, Milbank, and Wilmot, South Dakot ...

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 exte ...

South Dakota Highway 106 South Dakota Highway 106 (SD 106) is a state highway in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It links Claire City with Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" ...

* South Dakota Highway 109 * South Dakota Highway 123 *

South Dakota Highway 127 South Dakota Highway 127 (SD 127) is a highway that runs from North Dakota Highway 127, northwest of White Rock to South Dakota Highway 10 in Sisseton. It was commissioned around 1980. History The route that is currently South Dakota 127 was ...

Adjacent counties

Richland County, North Dakota Richland County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,529. Its county seat is Wahpeton. Richland County is part of the Wahpeton, ND– MN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also incl ...

- north *

Traverse County, Minnesota Traverse County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 3,360, making it the least-populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Wheaton, Mi ...

- northeast *

Big Stone County, Minnesota Big Stone County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,166. Its county seat is Ortonville. History The county was formed in 1862, and was organized in 1874. Geography Big Stone County lies ...

- southeast *

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

- south * Day County - southwest * Marshall County - west

Protected areas

* Big Stone Island State Nature Area * Crawford State Game Production Area * Knutson State Game Production Area * Harmon State Game Production Area *

Hartford Beach State Park Hartford Beach State Park is a South Dakota state park on Big Stone Lake in Roberts County, South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. ...

* Peever Slough State Game Production Area *

Sica Hollow State Park Sica Hollow State Park (also Sieche Hollow State Park) is a state park of South Dakota, USA. It was named Sica (pronounced ), a Dakota word for bad or evil, due to the iron-red tinted water which was seen as blood by the Dakota tribe in the ar ...

(part) * White Rock State Game Production Area

Lakes and rivers

Big Stone Lake Big Stone Lake ( dak, Íŋyaŋ Tháŋka Bdé) is a long, narrow freshwater lake and reservoir on the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota in the United States. Description The lake covers , stretching from end to end ...

* Clubhouse Lake * Cottonwood Lake * Dobberstien Slough * Drywood Lakes * Hurricane Lake * Lake Bdesska *

Lake Traverse Lake Traverse is the southernmost body of water in the Hudson Bay drainage basin, watershed of North America. It lies along the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and South Dakota. A low continental divide, part of the Laurentian Divide ...

Little Minnesota River The Little Minnesota River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map , accessed October 5, 2012 headwaters tributary of the Minnesota River in northeastern South Dakota and west-centra ...

* Oneroad Lake * Owl Lake * Round Lake * Whetstone River (North fork) * Whitestone Lake

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

2000 United States Census The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 ce ...

, there were 10,016 people, 3,683 households, and 2,618 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 9 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 4,734 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 68.29%

White White is the 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 reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.10%

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 have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 29.86% Native American, 0.21%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.03% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.51% from two or more races. 0.63% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, 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 Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 3,683 households, out of which 33.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.50% 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, 11.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 26.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.22. The county population contained 30.00% under the age of 18, 7.20% from 18 to 24, 23.60% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 17.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $28,322, and the median income for a family was $33,361. Males had a median income of $25,516 versus $19,464 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 $13,428. About 16.60% of families and 22.10% 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 t ...

, including 30.10% of those under age 18 and 17.40% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servin ...

, there were 10,149 people, 3,823 households, and 2,655 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 4,905 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 61.7% white, 34.5% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.4% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 31.3% were

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 ...

, 19.2% were

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

, 6.3% were

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

, and 3.8% were

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

. Of the 3,823 households, 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.1% were married couples living together, 13.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 30.6% were non-families, and 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 39.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $37,708 and the median income for a family was $46,146. Males had a median income of $34,080 versus $28,423 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,825. About 14.3% of families and 20.0% of the population were below the

, including 33.9% of those under age 18 and 11.0% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

(county seat) *

Wilmot Wilmot may refer to: Places Australia *Division of Wilmot, an abolished Australian Electoral Division in Tasmania * Wilmot, Tasmania, a locality in the North-West Region Canada *Wilmot, Nova Scotia, an unincorporated rural community and former t ...

Towns

* Claire City *

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

New Effington New Effington is a town in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 234 at the 2020 census. New Effington was laid out in 1913, after a proposed railroad further away from the original city Effington spurred the need to ...

* Ortley * Peever * Rosholt *

Summit A summit is a point on a surface that is higher in elevation than all points immediately adjacent to it. The topography, topographic terms acme, apex, peak (mountain peak), and zenith are synonymous. The term (mountain top) is generally used ...

* White Rock

Census-designated places

Agency Village Agency Village is an unincorporated area and census-designated place (CDP) in Roberts County, South Dakota, United States. It is the headquarters of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate and home to Sisseton Wahpeton College. Since 2020, the CDP includes ...

* Goodwill (former) * Long Hollow * Peever Flats * White Rock Colony

Unincorporated communities

Hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

* Hartford Beach * Hiawatha Beach * Lindon Beach * Shady Beach *

Victor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

Townships

Agency Agency may refer to: Organizations * Institution, governmental or others ** Advertising agency or marketing agency, a service business dedicated to creating, planning and handling advertising for its clients ** Employment agency, a business that ...

*Alto *Becker *Bossko *Bryant *Dry Wood Lake *Easter *Enterprise *Garfield *Geneseo *Goodwill *Grant *Harmon *Hart *Lake *Lawrence *Lee *Lien *Lockwood *Long Hollow *Minnesota *Norway *One Road *Rosholt *Ortley *Sisseton *Springdale *Spring Grove *Summit *Victor *White Rock

Notable people

* Sleepy Eye,

Sisseton Sioux The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate of the Lake Traverse Reservation ( dak, Sisíthuŋwaŋ Waȟpéthuŋwaŋ oyáte), formerly Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe/Dakota Nation, is a federally recognized tribe comprising two bands and two subdivisions of the ' ...

chief *

Gene Okerlund Eugene Arthur Okerlund (December 19, 1942 – January 2, 2019), better known by his ring name "Mean Gene" Okerlund, was an American professional wrestling interviewer, announcer and television host. He was best known for his work in the World Wres ...

, wrestling announcer

Politics

External links

Roberts County, South Dakota (Official site)

References

{{authority control 1883 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1883