Hughes County, South Dakota

34 topographic sheets cover 9 settlements here, and 36 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

36 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

South Dakota within the United States

Hughes County within South Dakota

What the record shows

76 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
36 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 31 buildings, 4 districts and 1 structure.
7 of the 36 listings were added during the 1970s.
The Geographic Names Information System records 9 populated places in this county; 9 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

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

Property	Type	Listed	Reference
Dr. William and Elizabeth Blackburn House	building	1997	97000426
Brink-Wagner House	building	1978	78002557
Central Block	building	1989	88003201
Chicago and North Western Railroad Bridge	structure	1998	98001412
Crawford-Pettyjohn House	building	1977	77001245
Farr House	building	1980	80003723
Celina and Albert Goddard House	building	2018	100002102
I. W. Goodner House	building	1995	95000278
Mentor Graham House	building	1976	76001736
Peter Hansen House	building	1999	98001410
Harrold School	building	2003	03001073
Hilger Block	building	2006	06000456
John E. and Ruth Hipple House	building	2001	01000641
Horner-Hyde House	building	1988	88002836
Hughes County Courthouse	building	1993	92001859
Hyde Buildings	building	1983	83003009
Karcher Block	building	1993	93000783
Karcher-Sahr House	building	1977	77001246
Henry M. McDonald House	building	1989	89001718
George McMillen House	building	1983	83003010
Judge C. D. Meade House	building	1977	77001247
Methodist Episcopal Church	building	1997	97000428
Oahe Addition Historic District	district	2000	00000599
Oahe Chapel	building	1980	80003725
Pierre American Legion Cabin	building	2019	100004127
Pierre Hill Residential Historic District	district	1998	98000075
Pierre Masonic Lodge	building	2009	09000447
Pringle House	building	2012	12000485
Rowe House	building	2001	01000095
Kenneth R. Scurr House	building	1993	93000780
Soldiers & Sailors World War Memorial	building	1983	83003011
South Dakota State Capitol	building	1976	76001737
South Dakota State Capitol Complex (Boundary Decrease and Additional Documentation)	district		15000203
St. Charles Hotel	building	1980	80003724
Stephens-Lucas House	building	1977	77001248
Upper Pierre Street Commercial Historic District Boundary Increase	district	2000	00001215

Wildfire, 1995 to 2020

146 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 146 of them, burning about 6,796 acres. 16 started naturally and 1 was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause	Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	52
Equipment and vehicle use	30
Debris and open burning	27
Natural	16
Misuse of fire by a minor	8
Fireworks	6
Railroad operations and maintenance	3
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2
Arson/incendiarism	1
Smoking	1

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

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
7 July 2016	Natural	750 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	MEDICEN KNOLL
19 February 2000	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	700 acres	Kennebec Volunteer Fire Department	MEDICINE CREEK
18 June 2006	Equipment and vehicle use	650 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
15 September 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	600 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	GRASS FIRE
17 June 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	500 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
11 October 2015	Equipment and vehicle use	460 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	SUNFLOWER FIELD CA
26 August 2018	Railroad operations and maintenance	365 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	CANNING CA
31 July 2006	Equipment and vehicle use	300 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named

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

Storms, 1955 to 2025

60 of 512 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 512 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 10 injuries and about $3,066,130 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event	Reports
Thunderstorm Wind	256
Hail	210
Flood	18
Flash Flood	13
Tornado	12
Lightning	2
Funnel Cloud	1

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

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 1973	Tornado (F3)	not stated	10 hurt, $2,500,000	no account filed
April 2019	Flood	Pierre	$184,600	no account filed
September 1999	Flash Flood	Blunt	$175,000	no account filed
June 2008	Flash Flood	Pierre	$75,000	Very heavy rain of over 3 inches caused flash flooding in many parts of Pierre into the early morning hours. Many roads were under 1 to 2 feet of water. Several homes in southeast Pierre received sewer backup. Also several homes on Grey Goose road received flood damage.
June 2008	Lightning	Pierre	$50,000	no account filed
June 2008	Flash Flood	Pierre	$25,000	Very heavy rains of 2 to 4 inches caused flash flooding throughout much of Hughes county. Many roads and crops were damaged by the high water.
June 1992	Tornado (F2)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
July 1970	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$25,000	no account filed
August 2009	Flash Flood	Blunt	$5,000	Several county and township roads between Blunt and Harrold were overrun with water flowing out of nearby fields.
June 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	$1,000	Large tree branches snapped and a temporary green house was blown away.
June 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	$500	Strong winds damaged a large sign.
July 1982	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$30	no account filed
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	A collapsing thunderstorm produced a measured wind gust of 82 mph at the Pierre Regional Airport Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS). The winds resulted in tree and vehicle damage on the east side of Pierre.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Rousseau	-	A caller stated that thunderstorm winds, estimated at about 60 mph, ripped most of the leaves from their trees.
August 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	A peak wind gust of 71 mph was measured.
June 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Emergency management reports broken tree branches and power knocked out.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	The Automated Surface Observation Station at the Pierre Municipal Airport measured a wind gust of 67 mph.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	A South Dakota Department of Transportation weather station recorded a wind gust of 64 mph.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	De Grey	-	A personal weather station recorded a wind gust of 59 mph.
July 2023	Hail	Pierre	-	A photo of an estimated 4.5 inch hailstone was submitted on Facebook.
July 2023	Hail	Pierre	-	A photo of an estimated 3 inch hailstone was submitted on Facebook.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	De Grey	-	The roof was blown off of a trailer home, as reported on social media.
August 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	Trained spotter estimated wind speeds of 60 mph.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	The public report was from social media with a photo of an uprooted tree.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Canning	-	Severe winds took part of the roof off a barn which killed two calves. The overhead door on another building was blown in.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	De Grey	-	Seventy mph winds downed an electrical pole along with breaking off several large tree limbs.
March 2019	Flood	Pierre	-	In late March, a berm was constructed around the east side of Blunt to control snowmelt flooding on the Medicine Creek and divert the water to an open field away from homes and businesses. Part of the creek backed up into town. A small part of U.S. Highway 83 flooded on March 28th along with other county roads.
May 2019	Flood	Pierre	-	A quick intense rainfall of over an inch led to flooded streets in Pierre with some vehicles becoming stuck.
August 2019	Hail	Blunt	-	Golf ball to baseball size hail fell in an around Blunt with many windows broken along with siding damaged.
August 2019	Hail	De Grey	-	A storm chaser reported hail stones of 3 inches or larger.
August 2019	Flood	Blunt	-	Very heavy rain caused flooding over Highway 14 near Blunt. The water depth was 1 to 2 feet in spots disrupting traffic for several hours.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	De Grey	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	Estimated sixty-five mph winds occurred with baseball size hail with windows and siding damaged.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	Seventy-eight mph winds were measured along with tennis ball size hail.
June 2018	Hail	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	A severe thunderstorm with large hail and damaging winds came out of Sully county and tracked southeast across Hughes county destroying thousands of acres of crop and pastureland along its path. Some property damage also resulted from the severe winds and large hail.
June 2018	Flash Flood	De Grey	-	Heavy rains caused flash flooding over mainly west bend road for several hours.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	A semi truck was blown over near the junction of Highways 14 and 83 by sixty mph winds.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Estimated sixty mph winds downed some tree branches and took some shingles off a roof.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	Some small trees were downed in Blunt by estimated sixty-five mph winds.
May 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	An apartment building roof was damaged in Pierre by winds gusting over 60 mph.
August 2018	Hail	Blunt	-	Very large hail caused some siding and car damage along with knocking out some windows.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2017	Flash Flood	Pierre	-	Very heavy rains of 1.5 to 3.5 inches falling over a short period of time brought flash flooding to Pierre during the morning hours. There was flooding over several roads along with man hole covers coming off. The flash flooding resulted in stalled vehicles along with the flooding of some businesses and homes. Some vehicles became stalled with a few rescues occurring. Several areas were barricaded to prevent further stranded vehicles.
May 2016	Hail	Harrold	-	Baseball size hail damaged several vehicles.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Blunt	-	Sixty-five mph winds tossed patio furniture around, scattered lumber and other building supplies, rolled an a-frame feeder, and broke 3 to 4 inch branches off of several trees.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Eighty mph winds or higher downed many trees throughout Pierre along with damaging many buildings and vehicles.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	A large tree branch was downed by sixty mph winds.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	De Grey	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Harrold	-	Estimated seventy mph winds damaged a yield sign, tipped over a 55 gallon drum, and damaged a door and wall of a building along with a fruit tree.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	Sixty-five mph winds were estimated.
July 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	An estimated wind gust of 60 mph was reported by the public.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	A cabin on the east shore of the Missouri River was destroyed by an estimated eighty mph wind.
June 2012	Hail	Pierre	-	Half dollar size hail caused some tree and vehicle damage.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Harrold	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated in Harrold.
June 2011	Flash Flood	Pierre	-	Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding in and around Pierre. Streets and roads were flooded and barricaded while emergency pumps worked to evacuate water.
June 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	-	Seventy mph winds downed a few trees and caused some other structural damage in Pierre. Power was also out in parts of Pierre.
June 2011	Flash Flood	Pierre	-	Very heavy rains of 4 to over 5 inches fell in the Pierre and surrounding areas causing flash flooding of many streets and roads. With the ongoing flooding on the Missouri River along with the sewers plugged, pumps had to remove all of the water in Pierre.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	(Pir)Pierre Arpt	-	Seventy mph winds were estimated east of Pierre.

Mines and quarries

6 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 6 workings inside this county. None of them still produces: all are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity	Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction	6

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

Site	Commodity	Status
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Okobojo	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Polo Grounds Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown

Every populated place in the county

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.

Alto

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · Near Mosteller Draw · Antelope Island quadrangle

10 sheets, 1934 to 1986
Blunt

North Hughes unorganized territory · 57522 · On South Fork Medicine Knoll Creek · Blunt quadrangle

8 sheets, 1953 to 1985
Canning

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · Near Brekke Draw · Canning quadrangle

10 sheets, 1934 to 1986
De Grey

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · On Chapelle Creek · De Grey quadrangle

7 sheets, 1953 to 1985
Gray Goose

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · Okobojo SE quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1986
Harrold

Harrold town · 57536 · Harrold quadrangle

8 sheets, 1953 to 1985
Oahe

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · Willow Creek Butte quadrangle

9 sheets, 1937 to 1986
Pierre

Pierre city · 57501 · Near Hilgers Gulch · Pierre quadrangle

8 sheets, 1924 to 1986
Rousseau

West Hughes unorganized territory · 57501 · On Medicine Knoll Creek · Rousseau quadrangle

10 sheets, 1934 to 1986

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.