Star School District 61

Built in 1930. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

From the record

One of 16 National Register listings published here for Union County · listed in 2008 · category: Building · built in 1930.

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

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 47446 305th St., Alcester, 57001
When was it listed? February 2008
Category. building
Also known as. Schools in South Dakota MPS
Township. Emmet township
When was it built? 1930
National Register reference number. 08000056 - 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.

Fires near this property

32 since 1999

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 32 fires within 5 miles of Star School District 61 between 1999 and 2020, burning about 722 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	18
Debris and open burning	6
Equipment and vehicle use	3
Smoking	2
Railroad operations and maintenance	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
31 July 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	EMMET TWP.
16 July 2002	Smoking	under an acre	Alcester Volunteer Fire Department	BERNS
1 July 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	3.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	CANDLE STICK
4 June 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	PEACE LUTHERAN CEMETERY FIRE
5 May 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	140 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	477
5 May 2011	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	ANDERSON FIRE
18 May 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	HEARNEN FIRE
4 April 2000	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2.0 acres	Alcester Volunteer Fire Department	BRULE

Every fire recorded in Union County

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Star School District 61: 1 producer. All of them still produce. 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
	Seburn Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Union County

Storms near this property

60 of 92 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alcester, the town this property stands in, in 92 storm reports between 1999 and 2025: 45 flood, 27 hail, 15 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado. 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 2014	Flood	Alcester	$1,000,000	Repeated heavy rains caused record flooding of the Big Sioux River. Farmland and other lowlands including numerous roads were flooded. Some roads were damaged, and some secondary roads were washed out. A few farm homes, other farm buildings, and some fences were damaged by floodwaters. The river crested at a record 12.92 feet above flood stage at Hawarden, Iowa on June 17th. Interstate 29 was temporarily closed along a 22 mile stretch to facilitate levee building to divert some Big Sioux River water to McCook Lake, but the Interstate was re-opened when the river crested at a lower level than was feared. A levee breach across the river from Akron, Iowa, briefly aggravated lowland flooding before it was repaired.
September 2010	Flood	Alcester	$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 few homes. A dike break just south of Big Springs caused additional farmland to be flooded. The river crested at 6.9 feet above flood stage near Akron, Iowa on September 27th.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	$100,000	Thunderstorm winds caused widespread tree damage and blew down power lines. Several homes and other buildings in Alcester were damaged, mostly by falling trees or tree debris. The downed and damaged power lines caused power outages.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	$50,000	no account filed
September 2019	Flood	Alcester	$25,000	After excessive two-day rainfall during September 10-12 (7.81 inches at Dell Rapids, generally 3 to 4 inches around Sioux Falls, 4.72 inches at Canton), the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) reached the third highest stage on record of 12.33 feet above flood stage on September 15. Significant amounts of the agricultural flood plain were inundated, and numerous roads were closed including South Dakota Highway 46, Iowa Highway 10 and South Dakota county road 13.
October 2019	Flood	Alcester	$5,000	Rainfall which averaged 1.00 to 1.50 inches around Sioux Falls and from 2.00 to 3.00 inches along the Rock River Basin in northwest Iowa at the start of the month pushed the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) into minor flooding. The river crested 1.52 feet above flood stage on October 6. Extensive agricultural flooding occurred. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
April 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	$5,000	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including two forty foot pine trees blown down. The winds also blew down power lines, causing a local power outage.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	$3,000	Shingles were dislodged from a house and tossed into the driveway. Property damage costs are rough estimates. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	$1,000	Numerous branches of 3 to 6 inches diameter were broken from trees. Property damage costs are rough estimates.
June 2005	Hail	Alcester	$1,000	Wind driven large hail broke windows on one side of a house.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Thunderstorm winds caused significant tree and powerline damage throughout Alcester.
July 2024	Flood	Alcester	-	Flooding continued from June on the Big Sioux River near Hawarden, with declining river levels. The river fell below flood stage on the morning of July 5th.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree in Alcester.
June 2024	Flood	Alcester	-	The Big Sioux River above Hawarden rose above flood stage the evening of June 20th, cresting around 19.42 feet above flood stage (39.92 feet) on June 22nd. This crest is in the Major Stage and broke the previous record. The river stayed above flood stage into July. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Union County.
April 2023	Flood	Alcester	-	The Big Sioux River near Hawarden, IA rose above flood stage on the morning of April 10th before cresting around 2.39 feet above flood stage (22.89 feet) on April 13th. The river then fell below flood stage on the morning of April 16th.
March 2020	Flood	Alcester	-	The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested 0.35 feet above flood stage on March 10. Minor flooding of agricultural land occurred near the river.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Wind gust to 58 mph was measured by a personal weather station.
March 2020	Flood	Alcester	-	With rainfall of 1.58 inches at Rock Valley, 1.51 inches at Canton and an average of 1.00 to 1.50 inches around Sioux Falls, the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) returned to flood at the end of the month. The river crested at 2.52 feet above flood stage on March 30, resulting in significant flooding of crop and pasture land. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
April 2020	Flood	Alcester	-	A continuation of minor flooding from March, the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) began the month 1.59 feet above flood stage, with a steady and slow drop at the start of the month to below flood stage on April 4. Impacts continued with significant flooding of crop and pasture land.
June 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested 3.46 feet above flood stage on June 28, causing significant flooding of crop and pasture land. The river remained in minor flood stage at the end of the month.
June 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	A continuation of flooding from May, the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) began the month at 8.68 feet above flood stage. Significant amounts of agricultural land remained flooded, and further impeded spring planting.
March 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	Snow melt and heavy rainfall (measured 2.12 inches at Hawarden and 1.75 inches at Canton) resulted in extensive flooding of agricultural land in the flood plain. Iowa Highway 10 and South Dakota Highway 46 were both inundated by water, along with access from County Road 13 west of Hawarden. The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) reached the highest crest on record at 14.8 feet above flood stage on March 15. The river remained in moderate flood stage at the end of the month.
July 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested 2.99 feet above flood stage on July 6. After less than 24 hours below flood stage during July 14-15, a secondary crest of 3.92 feet above flood stage occurred on July 19, resulting in significant flooding of crop and pasture land.
May 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	This is a continuation of flooding from April. The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) remained in flood through the month. Late month rains pushed the river to a crest at 10.33 feet above flood stage on May 29, the third highest stage on record. Significant agricultural flooding persisted, with no opportunity for spring planting throughout the flood plain. County road 13, Iowa Highway 10 and South Dakota Highway 46 were again subjected to closure at the end of the month. The river remained at major flood stage at the end of the month.
April 2019	Flood	Alcester	-	Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained significant flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Big Sioux River. The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested at 7.19 feet above flood stage on April 9. Moderate flooding continued at the end of the month.
April 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	Snow melt and runoff from periods of heavier rainfall produced moderate flooding which produced significant impact to lowland agricultural areas, and inundated SD Highway 46 for several days. River levels reached 5.9 feet above flood stage above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on April 24. The river remained at minor flood stage at the end of the month.
April 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	A continuation of flooding from March 2018, the river above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) slowly fell to below flood stage by April 5.
June 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	A week of periodic heavy rainfall ending June 26 resulted in a widespread 5 to 9 inches of rainfall, much of which occurred on June 20, 24 and 25. Specific weekly totals included 6.28 inches near Larchwood, 7.47 inches at Canton, 9.15 inches at Rock Valley, 9.19 inches near Lester and 5.01 inches at Hawarden. Major flooding occurred with South Dakota Highway 46 and Iowa Highway 10 going under water, as well as the city park in Hawarden. Significant amounts of crop and pasture land were inundated as the river crested above Hawarden (gage site HWDS2) 13.5 feet above flood stage on June 22. After falling, a second crest 10.8 feet above flood stage occurred on June 27. The river remained at minor flood stage at months end.
September 2018	Flash Flood	Alcester	-	Fields flooded from heavy rainfall. Water onto several gravel roads.
March 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	Heavy rainfall along with snow melt caused minor flooding of lowland agricultural areas along middle portions of the Big Sioux River. The river reached a crest of 1.7 feet above flood stage near Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on March 7.
March 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	Runoff from rainfall, snow melt, and ice breakup caused minor flooding of lowland agricultural areas along lower portions of the Big Sioux River. The river reached a crest of 4.2 feet above flood stage near Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on March 30, and remained above flood stage at the end of the month.
July 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	South Dakota Highway 46 was closed for several days to start July, and crop and pasture land near the Big Sioux River was severely impacted as river levels climbed to 3.7 feet above flood stage above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on July 7.
September 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	Widespread upstream rainfall in the Big Sioux basin from September 18-20 totaled generally 5 to 10 inches, resulting in major flooding. South Dakota Highway 46 was closed, with several farm houses isolated by high water as the Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested 11.1 feet above flood stage on September 22.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	At the corner of State Highway 11 and 300th St., thunderstorm winds leveled a seed warehouse and office. The debris was spread across the highway into an abandoned building across the street. At the latter location, winds blew over a refrigerated semi-trailer.
October 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	A steady moderate rainfall during October 9-10 - resulting in 1.50 to 2.00 inches of rainfall - produced yet another period of moderate flooding. South Dakota Highway 46 was again inundated, and several rural homes were isolated by high water. The Big Sioux River above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) crested 4.6 feet above flood stage on October 12.
May 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	A slow fall through minor flood stages persisted along much of the Big Sioux River during much of the first week of May, with impacts generally limited to flooding of agricultural areas near the river. Flooding ended above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on May 5.
May 2018	Flood	Alcester	-	Runoff from periods of heavier rainfall on top of already high river levels produced minor flooding of lowland agricultural areas along lower portions of the Big Sioux River. River levels reached 2.8 feet above flood stage above Hawarden (gage site HWDI4) on May 13.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Social Media report.
April 2016	Flood	Alcester	-	Runoff from repeated rains caused minor flooding of agricultural land along the Big Sioux River. The river reached a peak stage 1.6 feet above flood stage at Akron on the Iowa side of the river at the end of the month.
May 2016	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor flooding because of runoff from repeated April rains continued to affect agricultural land along the Big Sioux River. The river crested at 2.2 feet above flood stage at Akron on the Iowa side of the river on May 3rd.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Thunderstorm winds cause tree damage, including trees snapped off.
July 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alcester	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including up to 6 inch diameter limbs blown down.
May 2013	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor to briefly major flooding of the Big Sioux River affected a significant amount of farmland, with other lowlands and several roads also being flooded. The river crested at 4.47 feet above flood stage east of Spink on May 28th.
May 2012	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor to moderate flooding of the lower Big Sioux River affected some farmland and roads. The river crested at 2.2 feet above flood stage at Hawarden, Iowa on May 31st, and at 2.26 feet above flood stage at Akron, Iowa, also on May 31st.
May 2012	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor to moderate flooding of the Big Sioux River affected some farmland, parkland, and a few roads. The river crested at 2.2 feet above flood stage at Hawarden, Iowa on May 10th, and at 2.31 feet above flood stage at Akron, Iowa on May 11th.
May 2011	Flood	Alcester	-	Heavy rain caused the lower Big Sioux River to rise again above flood stage, after spring snowmelt flooding subsided. Minor to moderate flooding was reported with some farmland and a few roads flooded. The river crested at close to 2 feet above flood stage across the river at Hawarden and Akron, Iowa, then began to fall again by the end of the month.
June 2011	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor to moderate flooding continued on the lower Big Sioux River in June, with lowlands including some farmland and several roads flooded. The river fell below flood stage for a few days in the middle of June, rose again due to heavy rains, and began to fall again before the end of the month. The river crested at 3.3 feet above flood stage at Akron, Iowa on June 25th, and at 3.6 feet above flood stage at Hawarden, Iowa on June 24th.
February 2011	Flood	Alcester	-	A few days of melting snow in mild weather caused minor flooding along the Big Sioux River, affecting lowlands including farmland and pastureland on the South Dakota side of the river. The river crested at 1.3 feet above flood stage across from Hawarden, Iowa on February 21st.
July 2011	Flood	Alcester	-	Moderate to major flooding redeveloped along the Big Sioux River, then subsided during the month. Lowlands along the river were flooded, including farmland and several roads. The highest stages were 5.0 feet above flood stage at the Hawarden, Iowa gage, and 4.0 feet above flood stage at Akron, Iowa, both on July 18th.
April 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	Continued flooding of the Big Sioux River from March abated and ended in early April, with minor flooding affecting mainly fields adjacent to the river. Starting the month at near a foot above flood stage several miles northeast of Richland, the river fell below flood stage on April 4th.
June 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	Recurring heavy rain cause moderate flooding of the Big Sioux River. Some roads and fields along the river were flooded. The river crested at just over 3 feet above flood stage near Akron, Iowa, or several miles northeast of Richland, South Dakota, on June 23rd.
October 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	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 were still flooded at the start of the month.
July 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	Runoff from heavy rain caused minor to moderate flooding along the Big Sioux River. Farmland and other lowlands were flooded. The river rose to over 4 feet above flood stage near Akron, Iowa at the end of the month and was still rising.
August 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor to moderate flooding along the Big Sioux River continued at the start of August after late July heavy rains, but the flooding abated after a few days. Farmland and other lowlands were flooded. The highest level near Akron, Iowa was 4.54 feet above flood stage on August 1st.
March 2010	Flood	Alcester	-	Rapid melting of a heavy winter snowpack caused flooding of the Big Sioux River which resulted in moderate to major flooding. Several fields and roads were flooded. The river crested at 6.4 feet above flood stage several miles northeast of Richland on March 17th. A damaged dike near this location caused more widespread flooding of cropland, and also resulted in the flooding and closing of South Dakota Highway 48 in the area.
February 2009	Flood	Alcester	-	Minor flooding along the Big Sioux River resulted from the melting of snow. Some farmland and a few county roads were partially flooded.
June 2008	Flood	Alcester	-	Heavy rain caused moderate to major flooding of the Big Sioux River. Extensive flooding of farmland and flooding of several county roads was reported. The amout of damage to crops and to farmland from erosion was not known.
April 2007	Flood	Alcester	-	Heavy rain at the end of March led to minor to locally moderate flooding along the Big Sioux River. Lowlands including some farmland near the river were flooded.
September 2007	Hail	Alcester	-	Large hail was accompanied by 40 to 50 mph wind gusts.
March 2007	Flood	Alcester	-	Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the Big Sioux River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding varied from minor to major with lowlands near the river flooded. The amount of damage was not known but was not suspected to be large. The river crested at 7.7 feet above flood stage east of Alcester on March 16th.\|

Every storm recorded in Union 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

4 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
Nora Store	2.1 miles	2007
Hyden House	5.8 miles	1996
United Brethren Church	6.8 miles	2001
Hultgren Farm	6.9 miles	2004

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 08000056 in Record Group 79.
Union County	All 16 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.