Hyde 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 ...

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 1,262, making it the second-least populous county in South Dakota. Its

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 Highmore. The county was founded in 1873, as a county of the

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, and organized in 1883. It was named for James Hyde, a member of legislature in the 1870s.

History

Hyde County was created by the territorial legislature on January 8, 1873, with area partitioned from Buffalo County. It was not organized by that action. Its boundaries were altered by changes in October 1879 and February 1883. On November 5, 1883, the county organization was filled and the county was placed in independent operation. The current Hyde County courthouse was constructed in 1911 (it is currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places). The county organization included a jail until 1974, when the jail was abandoned and jail-related services were contracted to surrounding counties.

Geography

The county terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, partly devoted to agriculture. 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 southeastward at its SW corner, and delineates a portion of the county's south boundary line. The terrain slopes toward the county's SW corner. Its highest point is on the lower part of its eastern boundary line, at ASL. Hyde County has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 14 * South Dakota Highway 26 * South Dakota Highway 34 * South Dakota Highway 47

Adjacent counties

* Faulk County - north * Hand County - east * Buffalo County - south * Lyman County - southwest * Hughes County - southwest * Sully County - west * Potter County - northwest

Protected areas

* Chapelle State Game Production Area * Highmore State Game Production Area * Rezac Lake State Game Production Area * Rice Lake State Game Production Area

Lakes

* Baloun Lake * Chapelle Lake * Lake Boehm * Rezac Lake * Rice Lake * Thomas Lake

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,262 people, 522 households, and 355 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 626 housing units.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,420 people, 600 households, and 385 families in the county. The population density was . There were 708 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.1% white, 8.5% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% black or African American, 0.2% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, Of the 600 households, 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.7% were married couples living together, 5.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.8% were non-families, and 33.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age was 46.4 years. The median income for a household in the county was $41,196 and the median income for a family was $61,161. Males had a median income of $36,053 versus $28,456 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,995. About 8.3% of families and 11.2% 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 11.6% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

* Highmore (county seat)

Census-designated place

* Stephan

Townships

*Banner *Bramhall *Douglas *Eden *Franklin *Holabird *Highmore *Illinois *Lincoln *Loomis *Spring Lake *Union *Valley *William Hamilton

Unorganized territories

* Central Hyde * Crow Creek * North Hyde

Politics

Hyde County voters have been reliably Republican ever since South Dakota's statehood. In only two national elections – the Democratic landslides of

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

in 1932 and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

in 1964 – has the county ever voted for a Democratic presidential candidate – although in the Republican landslides of 1956 (due to a major drought and resultant agricultural problems) and 1972 (due to a strong “ favorite son” vote for

George McGovern George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...

) the county actually voted about 4 points more Democratic than the nation at-large.

References

External links

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