Stanley County, South Dakota

27 topographic sheets cover 10 settlements here, and 8 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

8 National Register listings published here, 2 of them National Historic Landmarks.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

South Dakota within the United States

Stanley County within South Dakota

What the record shows

71 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
8 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 6 buildings and 2 sites.
6 of the 8 listings were added during the 1970s.
The Geographic Names Information System records 10 populated places in this county; 10 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
American Legion Community Hall	building	2017	100001403
Jefferson Davis Carr House	building	1982	82003942
Fort Pierre Chouteau Site	site	1976	76001756
La Verendrye Site	site	1974	74001899
Old Fort Pierre School	building	1977	77001255
Stockgrowers Bank Building	building	1977	77001256
Gaylord Sumner House	building	1977	77001257
United Church of Christ, Congregational	building	1977	77001258

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

172 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 172 of them, burning about 68,987 acres. 50 started naturally and 4 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause	Fires
Equipment and vehicle use	51
Natural	50
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	31
Debris and open burning	13
Fireworks	11
Recreation and ceremony	5
Arson/incendiarism	4
Misuse of fire by a minor	2
Other causes	2
Smoking	2
Power generation/transmission/distribution	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
17 September 2000	Natural	35,000 acres	Agar Volunteer Fire Department	HOUCK RANCH
17 September 2000	Natural	25,000 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	HAYES
16 July 2006	Natural	2,185 acres	Lower Brule Agency	THOMPSON COMPLEX
16 July 2006	Natural	1,800 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	FT. PIERRE CPX
23 August 2020	Natural	561 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	LUCKY STRIKE CA
12 August 2006	Natural	500 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
16 April 1994	Equipment and vehicle use	400 acres	Nebraska National Forest	FT. PIERRE RIDINGS
12 August 2006	Natural	400 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, 1960 to 2025

60 of 429 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 429 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 11 injuries and about $5,178,060 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event	Reports
Thunderstorm Wind	199
Hail	183
Tornado	22
Flood	15
Flash Flood	9
Wildfire	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
August 1969	Tornado (F1)	not stated	3 hurt, $25,000	no account filed
July 1986	Thunderstorm Wind	not stated	3 hurt	no account filed
July 1987	Thunderstorm Wind	not stated	2 hurt	no account filed
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	1 hurt, $40,000	Eighty mph winds destroyed two mobile homes parked in the Chantier Heights Development 15 miles northwest of Pierre on South Dakota Highway 1806. A 77-year-old woman was injured when her mobile home parked on a bluff overlooking Lake Oahe partially rolled down the bluff, toward the lake. The woman received, minor injuries.
August 1960	Tornado (F2)	not stated	1 hurt, $25,000	no account filed
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes	1 hurt	Measured winds of over one-hundred twenty mph by a home wind system rolled a camper office building and destroyed several grain bins. One person was injured when the office building rolled.
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Onida to Pierre	$5,000,000	Widespread wind damage included cars piled into buildings at Fort Pierre, highway signs torn off, billboards uprooted, a hole in the roof of Pierre City Hall from falling tree branches, numerous downed power lines and poles, a roof blown off a business in Onida, roofs on many dwellings damaged, many trees blown down including some large ones, many broken tree branches and limbs littering and blocking roads, trees stripped of leaves, crops damaged or destroyed over large areas, and several small farm buildings destroyed. Heavy rain of 2 to 6 inches in the Pierre and Forth Pierre areas flooded roads and basements and added to the crop damage.
June 2008	Flash Flood	Wendte	$30,000	Very heavy rains of 2 to 4 inches fell across much of Stanley county causing extensive flash flooding. Many dams were broken along with tens of fences crossing creeks in the county. Seventeen roads also sustained some form of damage from the flooding.
July 1995	Thunderstorm Wind	Pierre	$30,000	Eighty mph winds were responsible for damaging two sailboats at Spring Creek. The high winds also blew the middle section off the roof of the lodge, ripped apart two sheds and the top of a picnic shelter, destroyed a pop-up camper, and a 29-foot camper trailer was tipped onto its side. A garage was also lifted off the ground and its walls buckled before settling back down.
September 1999	Flash Flood	Ft Pierre	$20,000	no account filed
September 1986	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
May 1975	Tornado (F1)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
July 1973	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$2,500	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	to 16 NW	$500	The winds broke numerous branches off of trees.
July 1982	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$30	no account filed
July 1982	Tornado (F0)	not stated	$30	no account filed
July 2025	Hail	Hayes	-	Tennis-ball size hail was reported five miles south-southwest of Hayes.
September 2025	Flood	Hayes	-	The Stanley County Emergency Manager reports water over the roadway along US-14/SD-34 5 miles west of Hayes.
September 2025	Flood	Ft Pierre	-	Stanley County Emergency Manager reports that Bad River Road has water over it in multiple locations and that residents were advised not to travel across parts of the county.\|\|The Bad River river gauge at Fort Pierre would go into flood at 1230 CST, cresting at 24.14 or 3.14 feet above flood stage. The river would remain in flood into the morning of September 19th. At its crest, water was into some mobile homes along highway 83 in Fort Pierre, and the local shelter at the Expo Center was opened for those impacted.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes Hamilton Arpt	-	The public estimated thunderstorm wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph was responsible for knocking down Cottonwood tree limbs.
May 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Mission Ridge	-	The public estimated that thunderstorm wind gusts reached an estimated 65 mph.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Emergency management reported several campers and travel trailers had been damaged or overturned due to thunderstorm wind gusts approaching 80 mph.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	A caller stated that six 20 by 20 foot doors were blown in at a local construction company shop.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Emergency management reported damage to grain bins at a local agricultural service.
August 2024	Flash Flood	Ft Pierre	-	A trained spotter reported 3 to 4 inch deep water over the roadway on highway 14 in Fort Pierre.
June 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Bunker	-	A South Dakota Mesonet weather station recorded a wind gust of 63 mph.
July 2023	Hail	Lacy	-	Hail, up to ping pong and golf ball size, covered the ground. Estimated winds of 50 to 60 mph were observed with the storm.
July 2023	Hail	Lacy	-	Golf ball to tennis ball size hail broke multiple windows and caused significant damage to gardens.
July 2023	Tornado (EF0)	Ft Pierre	-	A member of the public shared a video of a nearly stationary tornado in an open field.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Bunker	-	A personal weather station recorded a peak wind gust of 85 mph.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes Airstrip	-	A few tree branches were snapped by the wind.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	A report from mPING stated that one inch tree limbs were broken and/or shingles were blown off.
June 2022	Hail	Mission Ridge	-	Hail, mostly small but up to the size of quarters, covered the ground.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	A National Weather Service employee reported an estimated wind gust of 60 mph.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Sansarc	-	Hail along with estimated sixty mph winds damaged the siding of the house.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes Airstrip	-	An extreme wind gust of 104 mph was recorded.
August 2020	Hail	Sansarc	-	Baseball size hail broke six windows on the north and west sides of the home.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Sansarc	-	Estimated eighty mph winds took the roof off an outbuilding along with blowing the door in on another outbuilding.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Estimated seventy-five mph winds rolled and destroyed a trailer.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Estimated seventy-five mph winds brought several trees down.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Bunker	-	Sixty mph winds along with pea sized hail damaged a winter wheat crop.
March 2019	Flood	Bunker	-	Several roads were flooded in the county.
May 2019	Flood	Ft Pierre	-	A quick intense rainfall of over an inch flooded several roads in Fort Pierre.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Bunker	-	A personal weather station recorded a sustained wind of 73 mph with a gust to 108 mph northeast of Bunker.
August 2019	Hail	Wendte	-	Quarter size hail and strong winds occurred. Power was knocked out for a short period of time.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Estimated sixty mph winds along with hail shredded sunflowers along with moving some round hay bales.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Estimated seventy mph winds took the roof off a calving shed.
August 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Severe thunderstorm winds capsized an 18-foot catamaran on Lake Oahe about 8 miles north of Fort Pierre. The two men on the boat had to be rescued and were uninjured.
June 2018	Flash Flood	Ft Pierre	-	Heavy rains resulted in several flooded county roads for several hours.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes Airstrip	-	Seventy mph winds were estimated.
June 2018	Hail	Hayes Hamilton Arpt	-	A severe thunderstorm from western South Dakota tracked across northern Stanley county and into Sully county bringing large hail up to 2 inches and winds up to ninety mph destroying thousands of acres of crops and pastureland. The hail and severe winds also caused some property damage along the path of the storm.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Bunker	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2017	Flash Flood	Ft Pierre	-	Very heavy rains of 1 to 3 inches falling over a short period of time brought flash flooding to Fort Pierre during the morning hours. Several roads were flooded including parts of Highways 34 and 14 being blocked off due to water over the road. A few homes and businesses received flooding with several vehicles stalled.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Sansarc	-	Sixty mph winds downed many large tree branches along with one tree.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Mission Ridge	-	Sixty mph winds took the door off an outbuilding.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes Airstrip	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
May 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Ft Pierre	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Wendte	-	Sixty mph winds were estimated.
August 2016	Hail	Hayes Airstrip	-	Golf ball size hail caused damage to the house siding and vehicles.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Hayes	-	Seventy mph winds were estimated in Hayes.

Mines and quarries

8 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 8 workings inside this county. 2 still produce and 6 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity	Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction	8

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

Site	Commodity	Status
Buffalo Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Buffalo Pit #2	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Clarkranch Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Corps of Engineers Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Phillips Terrace Pits	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Stanley County Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

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.

Bunker

South Stanley unorganized territory · 57552 · Midland NE quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1984

No longer a settlement
Fort Pierre

Fort Pierre city · 57532 · On Bad River · Pierre quadrangle

8 sheets, 1924 to 1986
Hayes

South Stanley unorganized territory · 57537 · Hayes South quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1984
Lacy

North Stanley unorganized territory · 57532 · Lacy quadrangle

9 sheets, 1937 to 1986
Mission Ridge

North Stanley unorganized territory · 57532 · On Mission Ridge · Mission Ridge quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1986
Orton

North Stanley unorganized territory · 57532 · Mission Ridge quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1986
Pheba

South Stanley unorganized territory · 57552 · Midland NE quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1984

No longer a settlement
Sansarc

North Stanley unorganized territory · 57537 · Sansarc quadrangle

6 sheets, 1954 to 1986
Teton

South Stanley unorganized territory · 57532 · On Yellow Shoulder Creek · Teton quadrangle

10 sheets, 1937 to 1986
Wendte

South Stanley unorganized territory · 57532 · On Deep Creek · Wendte quadrangle

8 sheets, 1953 to 1986

The vanished settlements of Stanley County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

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.