Whitehorse, South Dakota
8 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1952 and the latest in 1985. It stands in the South Dewey unorganized territory. It lies in ZIP code area 57661. It stands on Little Moreau River. The Survey maps it on the White Horse quadrangle. 106 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,716 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresWhitehorse fell from 141 to 106 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 141 | |
| 2020 | 106 | -35 (-25%) |
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.
- 1952 USGS Whitehorse 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
49 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 49 fires within 5 miles of Whitehorse between 1992 and 2018, burning about 287 acres in total. 7 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 |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 13 |
| Fireworks | 10 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 8 |
| Natural | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 6 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2011 | Equipment and vehicle use | 2.2 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | GUMBO |
| 5 September 2018 | Equipment and vehicle use | 20 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | BUZZARD |
| 4 September 2002 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | WARDOG |
| 3 September 1996 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | ROBBY |
| 26 September 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.3 acres | Cheyenne River Agency | ANDERSON |
| 25 September 1994 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | MOUND |
| 23 September 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | #575 |
| 8 August 2006 | Natural | under an acre | Cheyenne River Agency | MONICA |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
2 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Whitehorse: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Highway Gravel Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer |
Storms near this place
13 since 2008Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Whitehorse in 13 storm reports between 2008 and 2025: 8 hail, 3 flood, 1 tornado, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | Flood | Whitehorse | - | 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. |
| June 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Whitehorse | - | Sixty mph winds were estimated. |
| June 2014 | Tornado (EF0) | Whitehorse | - | A tornado touched down briefly in open country with no damage reported. |
| June 2013 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | Hail broke some windows out of the house. |
| May 2024 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| August 2020 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| July 2012 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| March 2009 | Flood | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| April 2009 | Flood | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| July 2008 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Whitehorse | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowhorse Ford | 4.8 miles | 8 | |
| Glencross | 12.4 miles | 7 | |
| Ridgeview | 13.6 miles | 7 | |
| Timber Lake | 14.8 miles | 8 | |
| La Plant | 15.2 miles | 7 | |
| Promise | 15.6 miles | 8 | |
| Trail City | 16.3 miles | 7 | |
| Virginia | 17.0 miles | 9 |
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 Whitehorse | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q2272776 | 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 1258980. 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.
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.



