Plainview is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

in Meade County, 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 ...

History

Plainview was laid out in 1907, and named for the "plain view" obtained from the elevated town site. A post office called Plainview was established in 1908, and remained in operation until 1972. The community is no longer directly listed on the US Census.

Geography

Plainview is centered at the intersection of

South Dakota Highway 34 South Dakota Highway 34 (SD 34) is a state route that runs parallel to Interstate 90 across the entire state of South Dakota. It begins at the Wyoming border west of Belle Fourche, as a continuation of Wyoming Highway 24 (WYO 24). The e ...

and Meade County Highway 39T, locally known as Plainview Road. The community is roughly halfway between

Rapid City Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed. It is the second-mo ...

and

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. Plainview is located in a very rural part of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

, where only two roads traverse the entire town. The nearest other settlement is fellow unincorporated community Howes, South Dakota, and the closest large settlement is Sturgis. Air transport is also limited; the closest airport with commercial service is

Rapid City Regional Airport Rapid City Regional Airport is a public use airport, nine miles southeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, Rapid City, in Pennington County, South Dakota, Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is included in the Federal Aviation Admin ...

at 71 miles away.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Plainview has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Plainview was on July 16, 2006, while the coldest temperature recorded was on December 30, 1990.

Demographics

Political affiliation

Plainview is located in a staunchly- Republican supporting area, as according to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and its "Extremely Detailed Map of the 2020 Election", Plainview and neighboring community Howes are part of a precinct where 28 out of a total 33 votes went to GOP incumbent president

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

over Democratic nominee

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

References

Unincorporated communities in Meade County, South Dakota Unincorporated communities in South Dakota {{SouthDakota-geo-stub