Clay County, South Dakota
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Clay County is a
county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...
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 so ...
of
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, 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 Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
. As of the 2020 census, the population was 14,967, and was estimated to be 15,245 in 2024. 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 ...
is Vermillion, which is also home to the
University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...
. The county is named for
Henry Clay Henry Clay (April 12, 1777June 29, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented Kentucky in both the United States Senate, U.S. Senate and United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives. He was the seventh Spea ...
, American statesman, US
Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
from Kentucky, and
United States Secretary of State The United States secretary of state (SecState) is a member of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States and the head of the U.S. Department of State. The secretary of state serves as the principal advisor to the ...
in the 19th century. Clay County comprises the Vermillion, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the
Sioux City Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Iowa. The county seat of Woodbury County, Sioux City is the primar ...
-Vermillion, Iowa-SD-Nebraska Combined Statistical Area.


History

The future Clay County area was opened for legal settlement in 1859. In Autumn 1859, Ahira A. Partridge (who would become the first elected sheriff of the county) crossed the Missouri river into the Dakota territory, and became the first white man to settle, on 160 acres of land that now underlies Vermillion. In 1862 the county was formally organized. The Clay County Courthouse was built in 1912. Clay County is the name of 17 other counties in the United States, most of them named for Henry Clay.


Geography

Clay County lies on the south line of South Dakota. The south boundary line of Clay County abuts the north line of the state of Nebraska (across the Missouri River). The
Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
flows southeast along the south boundary line of Clay County. A small drainage creek flows into the county from Turner County, draining the central and eastern portions of the county and discharging into the river. Smaller drainages move water from the western county areas into the river. In addition to sloping into the drainage through the center of the county, the terrain generally slopes to the south. The area is largely devoted to agriculture. 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 county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water. It is the 66th largest county in South Dakota by total area. It is the smallest county by area in South Dakota.


Adjacent counties

* Turner County - north * Lincoln County - northeast * Union County - east *
Dixon County, Nebraska Dixon County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 5,606. Its county seat is Ponca, Nebraska, Ponca. The county was created in 1856 and attached to Dakota Count ...
- southeast * Cedar County, Nebraska - southwest * Yankton County - west


Major highways

*
South Dakota Highway 19 South Dakota Highway 19 (SD 19) is a state highway in southeastern South Dakota, United States. It connects the Nebraska state line, south of Vermillion, with the southeastern part of the Madison area, via Viborg, Hurley, Park ...
*
South Dakota Highway 46 South Dakota Highway 46 is a state highway in South Dakota, United States, that runs west to east across the southeastern part of the state. It begins at the junction of U.S. Highway 18 and U.S. Highway 281 in Pickstown, and runs due east t ...
*
South Dakota Highway 50 South Dakota Highway 50 (SD 50) is a state route serving south central and southeast South Dakota. The current alignment begins at the junction of South Dakota Highway 34 at "Lee's Corner" east of Fort Thompson, and ends at the Iowa border ...


Protected areas

*
Missouri National Recreational River The Missouri National Recreational River is a National Recreational River located on the border between Nebraska and South Dakota. The designation was first applied in 1978 to a 59-mile section of the Missouri River between Gavins Point Dam and ...
(part) * Spirit Mound State Historic Prairie


Demographics

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Clay County was $230,280. As of the 2023
American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...
, there are 5,561 estimated households in Clay County with an average of 2.28 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $58,794. Approximately 17.5% of the county's population lives at or 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 ...
. Clay County has an estimated 66.6% employment rate, with 46.0% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.9% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (94.4%), Spanish (1.5%), Indo-European (1.3%), Asian and Pacific Islander (1.7%), and Other (1.0%). The median age in the county was 24.5 years.


2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 14,967 people, 5,564 households, and 2,795 families residing in the county. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...
was . There were 6,180 housing units.


2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 13,864 people, 5,110 households, and 2,628 families in the county. The population density was . There were 5,639 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 91.1% White, 3.1% American Indian, 1.7% Asian, 1.3% black or African American, 0.5% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 43.9% were German, 16.4% were Norwegian, 15.8% were Irish, 8.7% were English, 5.4% were Swedish, and 1.8% were American. Of the 5,110 households, 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 48.6% were non-families, and 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.91. The median age was 25.0 years. The median income for a household in the county was $37,198 and the median income for a family was $61,159. Males had a median income of $37,059 versus $28,016 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,518. About 8.0% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.


Racial/ethnic makeup

The racial makeup of the county was 92.78%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 1.00%
Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...
or
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 2.66% Native American, 1.95% Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 0.29% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race. 32.0% were of German, 15.6% Norwegian, 9.9% Irish and 5.4% English ancestry.


Religion

From 2000 Census data, over 50% consider themselves "unclaimed". *
Mainline Protestant The mainline Protestants (sometimes also known as oldline Protestants) are a group of Protestantism in the United States, Protestant denominations in the United States and Protestantism in Canada, Canada largely of the Liberal Christianity, theolo ...
with 3,840 is most common around 28%; mainly
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
; *
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
with 1820 comes second around 13%; *
Evangelical Protestant Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of the Christian ...
with 613 would be around 5%; mainly
Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
and
Southern Baptist The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestantism in the United States, Pr ...
.


Education

*
University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...
- In 1862 the territorial legislature located the State University in Vermillion, but nothing was done until 1882 when Clay County voted $10,000 in bonds to construct a building on its campus.


Communities


Cities

*
Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United States ...
(partial) * Vermillion (county seat)


Town

* Wakonda


Census-designated places

*
Burbank Burbank may refer to: Places Australia * Burbank, Queensland, a suburb in Brisbane United States * Burbank, California, a city in Los Angeles County * Burbank, Santa Clara County, California, a census-designated place * Burbank, Illinois, ...
* Meckling


Unincorporated communities

* Alsen (partial) * Dalesburg * Greenfield * Hub City''Hub City SD'' Google Maps (accessed January 31, 2019)
/ref> * Westreville


Townships

*
Bethel Bethel (, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; ; ) was an ancient Israelite city and sacred space that is frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Bet ...
* Fairview *
Garfield ''Garfield'' is an American comic strip created by Jim Davis (cartoonist), Jim Davis. Originally published locally as ''Jon'' in 1976 (later changed to ''Garfield'' in 1977), then in nationwide Print syndication, syndication from 1978, it chro ...
* Glenwood * Meckling *
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
* Pleasant Valley * Prairie Center * Riverside * Spirit Mound *
Star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...
* Vermillion


Politics

Largely due to the presence of the
University of South Dakota The University of South Dakota (USD) is a public research university in Vermillion, South Dakota, United States. Established by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1862, 27 years before the establishment of the state of South Dakota, USD is t ...
, Clay County has consistently voted for Democratic Party candidates for president from 1988 onward, frequently by double digit margins. In 2000, 2016, 2020, and 2024, it was the only county in the Dakotas without a Native American majority to vote Democratic for president.


See also

* National Register of Historic Places listings in Clay County, South Dakota


References


External links


Clay County official website

Clay County, Historical Society

South Dakota Association of County Officials
{{Coord, 42.92, -96.97, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-SD_source:UScensus1990 South Dakota counties on the Missouri River 1862 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1862 Micropolitan areas of South Dakota