Split Rock Creek State Park is a state park of

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 ...

, USA, located in Ihlen, or just south of Pipestone. The

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

built a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use ...

in 1938 to create a lake, which provided an opportunity for water recreation in an area of the state with few natural lakes. The dam was constructed of

Sioux Quartzite The Sioux Quartzite is a Proterozoic quartzite that is found in the region around the intersection of Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa, and correlates with other rock units throughout the upper midwestern and southwestern United States. It was ...

, a hard red rock widely found in the area. A nearby bridge, Split Rock Creek Bridge, was also built by the WPA of Sioux quartzite in 1938. The bridge carries County Road 54 over the creek. It is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

as part of the Minnesota Masonry-Arch Highway Bridges MPS. Split Rock Bridge

Split Rock Creek

Split Rock Creek is a stream that flows for 55 miles from a farmers field near Ihlen,

Rock County, Minnesota Rock County is a county at the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,704. Its county seat is Luverne. History The county was formed on May 23, 1857, by act of the territorial legislatu ...

to east of

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 ...

Minnehaha County, South Dakota Minnehaha County is a County (United States), county on the eastern border of the U.S. state, state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 197,214, making it the state's most populous county. It con ...

. The native American name for the creek was Eminija. The creek enters South Dakota east of

Sherman, South Dakota Sherman is a town in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 81 at the 2020 census. The town has the name of E. A . Sherman, a Dakota Territory banker. Geography Sherman is located at (43.757668, -96.475695). Accordi ...

. West of Sherman it flows over a cement pad on 486th Avenue. It flows around Garretson and through Devil's Gulch. The creek then flows through Palisades State Park and then through McHardy Park in

Brandon Brandon may refer to: Names and people *Brandon (given name), a male given name *Brandon (surname), a surname with several different origins Places Australia *Brandon, a farm and 19th century homestead in Seaham, New South Wales *Brandon, Q ...

. East of Sioux Falls Pt finally flows into the

Big Sioux River The Big Sioux River is a tributary of the Missouri River in eastern South Dakota and northwestern Iowa in the United States. It flows generally southwardly for ,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataTh ...

, which flows into the Missouri River, which flows into the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

References

{{authority control 1937 establishments in Minnesota Protected areas established in 1937 Protected areas of Pipestone County, Minnesota State parks of Minnesota Works Progress Administration in Minnesota

Split Rock Creek

See also

References