Determinates of Small Town Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century: A South Dakota Story

Keywords: small towns, Great Plains, population, settlement geography
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Saturday
Session Start / End Time: 2/26/2022 03:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/26/2022 05:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 78

Abstract

Town building in South Dakota began with the expansion of the railroads westward and northward across Dakota Territory in the late 1870s and 1880s. Little towns were established by railroad companies at distances seven to twelve miles along the track for the servicing of trains and as optimal trade areas in the horse-drawn era. The unfortunate result in the twenty-first century is way too many towns in a lightly populated, largely agricultural state. Except for the largest towns, challenges for sustainability are ever present. Determinates of success is based on both historical and locational components. Earlier towns fared better than later ones. Next to being a railroad center, procuring the often much contended county seat insured viability. Even today, school consolidation and church mergers favor court-house towns. Next on a town builders list was having the political clout to be granted a territorial and state institution. In modern times, local industry, transportation linkages and proximity to major growth areas such Sioux Falls and Rapid City are the keys to prosperity. Not to be discounted is the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of small town leadership.