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Dewey County, South Dakota

33 topographic sheets cover 20 settlements here, and 5 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

5 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

South Dakota within the United States
Dewey County within South Dakota

What the record shows

  • 147 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 5 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings and 2 structures.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 20 populated places in this county; 20 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

5

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Dakota Club Librarybuilding200404000474
Drees Brothers General Mechandisebuilding199898000445
Forest City Bridgestructure200101001217
Forest City Bridgestructure200101001217
Laurens Polygonal Hog Housebuilding199595001468

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

1,707 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 1,707 of them, burning about 33,998 acres. 353 started naturally and 37 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Equipment and vehicle use406
Natural353
Misuse of fire by a minor228
Fireworks227
Missing data/not specified/undetermined212
Debris and open burning92
Power generation/transmission/distribution48
Other causes43
Arson/incendiarism37
Smoking34
Recreation and ceremony27

The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
29 June 2002Fireworks14,224 acresCheyenne River AgencyLAPLANTE
6 July 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined2,093 acresCheyenne River AgencyFOUR BEAR
6 July 2006Equipment and vehicle use907 acresCheyenne River AgencyCLUB HOUSE
18 July 2006Natural633 acresSouth Dakota Wildland Fire Suppressionnot named
18 July 2006Natural622 acresCheyenne River AgencyFUDGE II
24 July 2018Equipment and vehicle use518 acresCheyenne River AgencyABEAR
18 October 2000Equipment and vehicle use490 acresCheyenne River AgencyVIRGINCRK
16 July 2003Equipment and vehicle use469 acresCheyenne River AgencyBRONZE

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1953 to 2025

60 of 516 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 516 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 1 injury and about $1,018,800 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail263
Thunderstorm Wind192
Tornado27
Flood17
Flash Flood14
Funnel Cloud2
Lightning1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 1964Tornado (F2)not stated1 hurtno account filed
June 2008FloodMoreau$500,000no account filed
April 2019FloodIsabel$198,800no account filed
June 2010Flash FloodBear Creek$100,000Very heavy rains of 4 to 7 inches caused flash flooding in several areas along Highway 212 from west of Lantry to Eagle Butte. Several homes and businesses along with most roads in Eagle Butte were flooded with quite a bit of damage received.
June 2008FloodPromise$75,000Runoff from very heavy rains caused the Moreau River to rise above flood stage on June 5th. The river crested at 25.4 feet on June 8th before falling back below flood stage on June 10th. Flood stage on the Moreau River is 21 feet.
July 1994Tornado (F0)Eagle$50,000A brief tornado destroyed a 14 x 80 foot mobile home, damaged a propane tank, and broke windows in several houses.
September 1986Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 1964Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 1953Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 2009Flash FloodParade$10,000Heavy rain caused flash flooding on the Moreau River with the bridge on Route 14 being overtopped. The bridge had to be closed west of Green Grass. A basement was also flooded three miles east of Green Grass along with several roads in the area.
July 1994Thunderstorm WindTimber lake$5,000no account filed
May 1977Tornadonot stated$2,500no account filed
April 1955Tornado (F2)not stated$2,500no account filed
July 2025HailPromise-Ping-Pong ball-sized hail was reported.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindGlencross-A trained spotter estimated winds up to 60 mph caused minor crop damage.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-A peak wind gust of 73 mph was recorded at the South Dakota State University mesonet station six miles north-northwest of Lantry.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindLantry-A trained spotter reported damage to their flags by an estimated 60 mph wind gust.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindEagle Butte-A peak measured gust of 62 mph was recorded on a personal weather station 14 miles south of Parade.
September 2025Thunderstorm WindParade-A wind gust of 70 mph was recorded by the South Dakota State University Mesonet station 1 mile east-southeast of Parade.
September 2025FloodWhitehorse-The river gauge on the Little Moreau at Promise went above flood stage on the afternoon of September 18th, topping out at 23.03 feet (2.03 feet above flood stage) during the early morning hours of September 19th. The river fell below flood stage later that afternoon. Virgin Creek, which flows into the Little Moreau just before they enter the Missouri River, was flowing across Promise Road at a depth of over one foot.
September 2025FloodEagle Butte-Tribal Officials report that the culvert on BIA Rt 8 has partly washed out. Travel through the area was difficult.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindLantry-The public reported thunderstorm wind damage in the form of 3 inch diameter limbs broken off trees in addition to several power poles that had also snapped.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindBear Creek-A public caller stated that thunderstorm wind gusts uprooted trees.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindTimber Lake Arpt-The Timber lake airport attendant reported no noticeable damage associated with estimated 60 mph winds.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindThatcher-Thunderstorm winds resulted in a power outage that persisted through the early morning the next day.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindRidgeview-The South Dakota Department of Transportation weather station a mile northeast of Ridgeview recorded a wind gust of 63 mph.
June 2023Thunderstorm WindRidgeview Jewett Arp-A South Dakota Department of Transportation weather station recorded a wind gust of 60 mph.
April 2022HailRidgeview-The large hail broke vehicle and house windows.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLantry-Nickel hail was observed in addition to the severe wind.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLantry-This report came from mPING, and indicated that one inch tree limbs were broken and/or shingles were blown off.
June 2022HailThatcher-In addition to the hail, 50 to 60 mph wind gusts were estimated to have occurred.
July 2022HailFiresteel-A trained spotter estimated 70 to 80 mph winds. The wind and large hail broke skylights on the house. In addition, a fence was damaged, along with tree branches down.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindIsabel-A trained spotter reported extensive damage north of Isabel. There was damage to trees, some uprooted, and damaged siding and broken windows on a house and vehicles. In addition, a machine shed and grain bins were destroyed. Some areas had complete crop loss.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindCheyenne Agency-Location is approximate, and time is estimated via radar.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindCheyenne Agency-Winds were estimated at 60 mph or stronger.
July 2021HailMoreau-A storm produced hail for nearly 30 minutes with large hail to quarter size occurring at the end of the storm.
September 2021HailIsabel-Quarter to half dollar hailstones lasted a couple minutes and produced minor damage to a home.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindCheyenne Agency-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindParade-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindTimber Lake-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindLantry-Estimated sixty mph winds brought some tree limbs down and took some shingles off the house.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindLantry-A wind gust of 94 mph brought down many large tree branches.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindFiresteel-Eighty mph winds were estimated by a storm chaser.
March 2019FloodIsabel-Snowmelt flooding occurred along the Moreau River with several roads closed. There was also several county and BIA bridges that were closed. People in Whitehorse had to go through Timber Lake to get out. There was also a bridge near Promise that had to be closed due to water over it. There were other flooded roads in the county with reports of some cattle stranded.
August 2019HailTrail City-A severe thunderstorm with large hail and destructive winds left southeast Corson and continued southeast across eastern Dewey county destroying crop and grassland in its path. The storm then entered western Potter county.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindFiresteel-A few tree limbs were downed by estimated sixty mph winds.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindTimber Lake-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindLa Plant-Estimated seventy mph winds downed many large tree branches.
June 2018HailIsabel-Hail covered the ground up to 2 inches in spots.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindEagle Butte-Estimated eighty mph winds tipped a mobile home over.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindMoreau-An estimated sixty mph wind blew down an old leaning house.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindParade-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
June 2018Thunderstorm WindEagle Butte-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2018Thunderstorm WindEagle Butte-Estimated ninety mph winds destroyed an empty trailer along with tipping another one over. A delivery truck was also tipped over and a mobile home was destroyed. A couple buildings had parts of their roofs blown off with many trees damaged or uprooted. Some power lines were also downed.
June 2018HailThatcher-Large hail and damaging winds destroyed many acres of crops and pastureland as a severe thunderstorm moved southeast out of Dewey into northwest Sully county.
August 2017Flash FloodTrail City-Two to three inches of heavy rain caused flash flooding of several parts of a road east of Trail City.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindIsabel-Estimated seventy mph winds brought down several large branches.
July 2017Thunderstorm WindThatcher-Seventy mph winds were estimated.
May 2016Thunderstorm WindRidgeview-Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2016Thunderstorm WindFiresteel-Sixty mph winds were estimated.

Mines and quarries

8 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 8 workings inside this county. 3 still produce and 5 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction8

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Bear Creek PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Cheyenne Sioux Tribe PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Highway Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
John Beer PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Lamb PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Munson Coal PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Swede Marshall PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every populated place in the county

20

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.