Promise, South Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1951 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the South Dewey unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57601. It stands on Virgin Creek. The Survey maps it on the Promise quadrangle.
Topographic sheets covering this place
4 surveys from 8 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1951 USGS Promise quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1953 USGS McIntosh quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
- 1958 USGS McIntosh quadrangle1:250000
- 1985 USGS La Plant quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
Fires near this place
17 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Promise between 1992 and 2014, burning about 295 acres in total. 8 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Natural | 8 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Fireworks | 2 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 2 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | CHICKLETS |
| 10 September 1994 | Natural | 97 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | TERRY D-X |
| 2 August 2005 | Natural | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | BOBBY DX |
| 11 August 2002 | Natural | 8.3 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | TED DX. |
| 11 August 2002 | Natural | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | GENE RYAN |
| 4 July 2002 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Trail City Volunteer Fire Department | BILL HAHNE |
| 2 July 2000 | Fireworks | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | PROMISE |
| 17 July 2006 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | 166 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | SHEEP CAMP |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Storms near this place
18 since 1994Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Promise in 18 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 14 hail, 2 flash flood, 1 flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Flood | Promise | $75,000 | Runoff 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 2025 | Hail | Promise | - | Ping-Pong ball-sized hail was reported. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Promise | - | An estimated 60 mph wind gust was reported by the public. |
| August 2006 | Flash Flood | Promise | - | Heavy rain in a very short time period caused flash flooding east of Promise with water flowing over several roads. |
| June 2023 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| August 2008 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 2006 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| July 1997 | Flash Flood | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
| June 1994 | Hail | Promise | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Virginia | 6.5 miles | 9 | |
| Yellowhorse Ford | 10.9 miles | 8 | |
| Moreau | 11.0 miles | 7 | |
| Trail City | 11.6 miles | 7 | |
| La Plant | 13.2 miles | 7 | |
| Whitehorse | 15.6 miles | 8 | |
| Glencross | 18.6 miles | 7 | |
| Ridgeview | 20.0 miles | 7 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Promise | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q23709416 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1257232. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
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.
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.



