Dell Rapids Residential Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

From the record

One of 107 National Register listings published here for Minnehaha County · listed in 2000 · category: District.

Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Address. Roughly bounded by Orleans Ave., 4th St., and 7th St., Dell Rapids, 57022
When was it listed? October 2000
Category. district
City. Dell Rapids city
National Register reference number. 00001224 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

26,908 words

The chapter on Dell Rapids City in History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota. Containing an Account of Its Settlements, Growth, Development and Resources ... Synopsis of Public Records, Biographical Sketches .., published 1899 names Dell Rapids. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The citv of Dell Rapids located on the Big- Sioux River, in the northern part of the county, is one of the most attractive and substantial cities in the state." Its development has been the outgrowth of a demand for a commercial center in one of the richest agricultural sections of the Big Sioux Valley. It fortunately has had no boom, and hence has escaped the blig-hting- effect that is sure to follow such a visitation. Business failures have been few and far between, and dilapidated structures and unoccupied buildings are not to be seen at Dell Rapids.

Passage source: History of Minnehaha County, South Dakota. Containing an Account of Its Settlements, Growth, Development and Resources ... Synopsis of Public Records, Biographical Sketches .., published 1899.

At first the place was known as Dell City, and among- the early enterprises was the publication of the Dell City Journal by J. C. Ervin in the spring- of 1872. On June 11, of that year, Mr. Ervin was married to Miss Clara Wyatt, the Rev. C. M. Allen, a Presbyterian clerg-ymen, performing- the marriag-e cermony. Their daug-hter Pearl was the first child born in Dell Rapids and the principal business street was named for her.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Dell Rapids City - 26,908 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

9 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 9 fires within 5 miles of Dell Rapids Residential Historic District between 2003 and 2014, burning about 56 acres in total. None 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3
Smoking	3
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Debris and open burning	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
4 September 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	25 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	DOUG KOUPAL SR.
1 August 2012	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	I-29 MM100
21 July 2006	Smoking	1.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
27 April 2007	Smoking	12 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
27 April 2007	Smoking	12 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
22 April 2008	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.5 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
19 March 2012	Equipment and vehicle use	2.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	MLS
17 March 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named

Every fire recorded in Minnehaha County

Mines and quarries near this property

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Dell Rapids Residential Historic District: 1 past producer, 1 producer, 1 unknown. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Dell Rapids Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Unknown
Nelson Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Minnehaha County

Storms near this property

60 of 61 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Dell Rapids, the town this property stands in, in 61 storm reports between 2000 and 2025: 29 flood, 18 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. 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 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	$750,000	After excessive two-day rainfall during September 10-12 (8.74 inches at Flandreau, 7.81 inches at Dell Rapids), the Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids (gage site DBRS2) reached the highest stage on record of 9.00 feet above flood stage on September 13. Extensive flooding of homes occurred in Dell Rapids, some as far as three city blocks from the river. A dozen homes were deemed to have substantial damage, and removed after being flooded. Jasper Road east of Dell Rapids was closed due to water over the roadway.
September 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	$200,000	After excessive two-day rainfall during September 10-12 (8.74 inches at Flandreau, 7.81 inches at Dell Rapids), the Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) reached the highest stage on record of 4.72 feet above flood stage on September 13. Numerous county roads were inundated, and flood waters cut off all access to the city of Baltic except one.
September 2010	Flood	Dell Rapids	$100,000	Widespread heavy rain, combined with saturated ground, caused a fairly rapid rise of the Big Sioux River to moderate to major flooding levels. Roads and numerous agricultural land near the river were flooded, as well as a several homes, especially near Dell Rapids. Parkland in Sioux Falls was also flooded. The river crested at 5.59 feet above flood stage at the North Cliff Avenue gage in Sioux Falls on September 27th.
April 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	$20,000	no account filed
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	$10,000	Thunderstorm winds flattened two grain bins and also caused tree and power line damage, resulting in a power outage. A few trees were blown down, with at least one house sustaining minor damage from tree debris.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Thunderstorm winds caused a wood frame on new outbuilding construction to collapse.
July 2024	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Flooding continued from June on the Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, with declining river levels. The river fell below flood stage on the afternoon of July 1st.
June 2024	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids rose above flood stage the afternoon of June 22nd, cresting around 1.29 feet above flood stage (1482.29 feet) on June 24th. The river then fell below flood stage on the evening of June 26th. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Minnehaha County.
June 2024	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids rose above flood stage the evening of June 22nd, cresting around 1.82 feet above flood stage (13.82 feet) on June 24th. The river stayed above flood stage into July. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Minnehaha County.
April 2023	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids, SD rose above flood stage on the evening of April 9th before cresting around 0.62 feet above flood stage (1481.62 feet) on April 10th. The river then fell below flood stage on the evening of April 10th.
April 2023	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, SD rose back above flood stage around midday of April 13th before falling back below flood stage around midday of April 17th.
April 2023	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids, SD rose above flood stage on the evening of April 9th before cresting around 1.33 feet above flood stage (13.33 feet) on April 10th. The river then fell below flood stage on the afternoon of April 11th before then rising back above flood stage on April 13th.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Highway patrol reported a semi-trailer flipped one mile north of Dell Rapids.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	A thunderstorm wind gust of 65 mph was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD520 3 miles west of Dell Rapids.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	A thunderstorm wind gust of 58 mph was measured by the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD520 3 miles west of Dell Rapids.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Multiple trees and large branches downed by thunderstorm wind gusts.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and damaged an outbuilding at the high school.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	A large farm outbuilding lost a significant portion of its roof, allowing the walls to collapse. Three nearby grain bins were also damaged.
August 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a South Dakota RWIS station 3 miles west of Dell Rapids, before structural damage rendered the wind gauge inoperable. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
March 2020	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	With rainfall of 1.55 inches 14 miles north northeast of Sioux Falls, the Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) returned to flood late month. The river crested at 0.13 feet above flood stage with flooding of agricultural lands near the river. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
March 2020	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) rose above flood stage on March 9 and crested 1.33 feet above flood stage on March 14. Impacts were limited to flooding of agricultural lands between Renner and Dell Rapids.
April 2020	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	A continuation of flooding from March, the Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) began the month 0.16 feet above flood stage, and slowly fell below flood stage by April 4. Main impact continued to be flooding of agricultural lands near the river.
March 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 2.01 inches 7 miles west of Garretson and 2.25 inches at Colton) resulted in extensive flooding of agricultural lands and inundation of city and township roads in and near Dell Rapids, Baltic and Renner. The Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) reached the 4th highest stage on record cresting 4.92 feet above flood stage on March 24. The river remained at moderate flood stage at the end of the month.
June 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	A continuation of flooding from May, the Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids (gage site DBRS2) began the month at 1.45 feet above flood stage. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded, and further impeded spring planting.
June 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	A continuation of flooding from May, the Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) began the month at 1.52 feet above flood stage. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded, and further impeded spring planting.
July 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids (gage site DBRS2) crested 1.16 feet above flood stage on July 16, resulting in significant flooding of agricultural land upstream of Dell Rapids, and inundating sections of the city park along the river.
July 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	The Big Sioux River below Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) crested 1.38 feet above flood stage on July 16, flooding significant amounts of agricultural land.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Measured by RWIS station.
May 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	This is a continuation of flooding from April. The Big Sioux River above Dell Rapids (gage site DBRS2) spent all but a brief period from May 17-20 in flood. Late month rains pushed the river to a crest into moderate flood stage at 3.04 feet above flood stage on May 29. Significant agricultural flooding persisted, with no opportunity for spring planting throughout the flood plain. Recreational areas at Dell Rapids along the river were inundated. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
May 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	This is a continuation of flooding from April. The Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) remained in flood stage through the month. A period of heavier rainfall late month pushed the river to briefly crest at moderate flood stage, 2.14 feet above flood stage on May 29. Significant agricultural flooding persisted, with no opportunity for spring planting throughout the flood plain. Recreational areas at Dell Rapids along the river were inundated. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
April 2019	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained significant flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Big Sioux River. Numerous county and township roads were flooded near the river, including 250th Street west of Baltic. The Big Sioux River near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) crested twice at moderate flood stage during the month. The first crest was 2.82 feet above flood stage on April 1, with a second crest at 2.47 feet above flood stage on April 20. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month.
April 2018	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Snow melt and runoff from periods of heavier rainfall produced moderate flooding which produced significant impact to lowland agricultural areas and the city park in Dell Rapids. River levels reached 2.2 feet above flood stage at Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) on April 27. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
July 2018	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Significant amounts of crop and pasture land were impacted by minor flooding as river levels climbed to 0.1 foot above flood stage near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) on July 25.
March 2018	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Runoff from rainfall, snow melt, and ice breakup caused minor flooding of lowland agricultural areas along middle portions of the Big Sioux River. The river reached a crest of 0.9 feet above flood stage near Dell Rapids (gage site DERS2) on March 24.
September 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Tree Damage.
June 2015	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	Large hail caused an unknown amount of damage to vehicles.
May 2012	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Minor to moderate flooding of the Big Sioux River affected some farmland, parkland, and a few roads. The river crested at 2.03 feet above flood stage at Dell Rapids on May 7th, and at 1.49 feet above flood stage in Sioux Falls on May 9th.
July 2011	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Minor flooding redeveloped along the Big Sioux River, then subsided during the month. A few lowlands along the river were flooded, including some parkland in Sioux Falls. The highest stages were 1.7 feet above flood stage at Dell Rapids, and 2.0 feet above flood stage at the Sioux Falls North Cliff Avenue gage.
March 2010	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Rapid melting of a heavy winter snowpack caused flooding of the Big Sioux River which resulted in moderate flooding. Several fields and roads were flooded. The river crested at around 3 feet above flood stage near Dell Rapids on March 176th, and at 3.4 feet above flood stage at North Cliff Avenue in Sioux Falls on the same day.
October 2010	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Minor to moderate flooding of the Big Sioux River steadily abated and ended during the first few days of the month. Some roads and riverside lowlands including agricultural land and a Sioux Falls park were still flooded at the start of the month.
June 2010	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Recurring heavy rain cause minor flooding of the Big Sioux River. A few lowland areas along the river sustained minor flooding. The river crested at less than a foot over flood stage at Dell Rapids and Sioux Falls.
July 2009	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	Large hail accumulated to a depth of up to 2 inches. The hail severely damaged soybean crops and caused lesser damage to corn crops. The amount of crop damage was not known.
March 2007	Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported. The river crested at 4 feet above flood stage at Dell rapids on March 16th. The snowmelt also caused brief flooding on Split Rock creek near Corson, which crested at 1.4 feet above flood stage on March 12th.
July 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Dell Rapids	-	Thunderstorm winds damaged corn crops, The amount of crop damage was not known.
June 2005	Flash Flood	Dell Rapids	-	Heavy rain caused widespread street flooding.
July 2002	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	Large hail caused crop and vehicle damage. The amount of damage was not known.
July 2023	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
August 2021	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
June 2015	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
May 2014	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
August 2011	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
July 2009	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
July 2005	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
August 2005	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
September 2005	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
April 2002	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed
June 2001	Hail	Dell Rapids	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Minnehaha County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Carnegie Free Public Library	0.2 miles	1973
Carnegie Public Library	0.2 miles	1986
St. Peter's Lutheran Church	0.3 miles	2002
Grand Opera House	0.3 miles	1978
William G. Milne House	0.3 miles	1994
Dell Rapids Warming House	0.3 miles	2017

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 00001224 in Record Group 79.
Minnehaha County	All 107 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
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.