Old Rockport Hutterite Colony

Built in 1914. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

From the record

“The Old Rockport Hutterite Colony, located on the James River in Hanson County, South Dakota near Alexandria, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The listing included nine contributing buildings.”
Wikipedia article Old Rockport Hutterite Colony, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 2 National Register listings published here for Hanson County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · built in 1914.

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

The listing

Address. Off James River, Alexandria, 57311
When was it listed? June 1982
Category. building
Also known as. Historic Hutterite Colonies TR
Township. Beulah township
When was it built? 1914
National Register reference number. 82003929 - 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

10 since 1998

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 10 fires within 5 miles of Old Rockport Hutterite Colony between 1998 and 2020, burning about 204 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	6
Debris and open burning	4

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
21 July 2020	Debris and open burning	1.5 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	TURKEY BARN
26 April 2014	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	KEN ZEB
2 April 2017	Debris and open burning	3.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	RIGGS FIRE
2 April 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	5.0 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	JT2 FIRE
12 April 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	80 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	TUTTLE #1
23 March 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	80 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	ALBERTZ'S BLAZE
12 November 2005	Debris and open burning	1.5 acres	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	not named
23 October 2011	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	South Dakota Wildland Fire Suppression	M ROYSTON

Every fire recorded in Hanson County

Mines and quarries near this property

6 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 6 workings within 5 miles of Old Rockport Hutterite Colony: 5 past producers, 1 producer. 1 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.

Site	Commodity	Status
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Gravel Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Hanson County

Storms near this property

51 since 1997

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Alexandria, the town this property stands in, in 51 storm reports between 1997 and 2025: 22 thunderstorm wind, 22 hail, 3 flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 3 injuries. 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 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	3 hurt, $1,200,000	Thunderstorm winds caused widespread damage to homes, trailers, barns, other structures, trees, and vehicles at the Oak Lane Hutterite colony south of Alexandria. Three people were injured when their trailer home was flipped and damaged.
May 2007	Flood	Alexandria	$100,000	Heavy rainfall caused flooding of low areas including fields, homes, businesses, schools, roads, streams, and bridges. The flooding was a longer term event than flash flooding, which also had resulted. Long term major flooding of the James River also resulted. Some parks and other recreation areas were affected. A few roads and bridges were washed out by the high water. The flooding delayed planting of crops in some areas.
August 2009	Hail	Alexandria	$50,000	Large hail broke windows in buildings and vehicles, and dented vehicles.
August 2004	Lightning	Alexandria	$50,000	Lightning struck a house, starting a fire which destroyed the top floor of the house. The fire took three hours to extinguish.
June 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	$30,000	no account filed
May 1998	Tornado (F1)	Alexandria	$20,000	no account filed
May 2007	Tornado (EF1)	Alexandria	$10,000	A tornado damaged barns and blew out windows.
August 2005	Hail	Alexandria	$5,000	Large hail broke windows in vehicles and homes.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts were measured by a Road Weather Information System sensor near Alexandria.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	A thunderstorm wind gust up to 66 mph was measured by the South Dakota Road Weather Information System site near Alexandria.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts as high as 58 mph were measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD502 4 miles east-northeast of Alexandria.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	A thunderstorm wind gust of 81 mph was measured by South Dakota Road Weather Information System site SD502 4 miles east-northeast of Alexandria. Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture.
September 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm wind gusts measured by South Dakota RWIS site SD502 4 miles east northeast of Alexandria.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	South Dakota RWIS station SD502 4 miles east northeast of Alexandria measured a wind gust of 66 mph.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm wind gust to 65 mph measured by hand-held anemometer.
July 2020	Hail	Alexandria	-	Ping-pong ball size hail fell at the Interstate 90 exit for Alexandria.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Measured by RWIS station.
August 2015	Hail	Alexandria	-	Large hail was accompanied by damaging winds.
August 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including 1.5 inch diameter branches blown down. The winds were accompanied by large hail.
August 2009	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including branches up to 5 inches in diameter and a few trees up to 10 inches in diameter blown down.
June 2007	Flood	Alexandria	-	Long term minor to moderate flooding of the James River continued at the start of June. Additional moderate to heavy rainfall over the basin kept the river above flood stage through the month. The flooding was not nearly as great as during the previous month. While lowland flooding continued along the river, no additional damage was reported.
May 2007	Flash Flood	Alexandria	-	Heavy rain caused flooding of Lake Hanson and nearby low areas, causing an unknown amount of damage to several homes. A large part of an earthern dam broke, draining the lake and easing the flooding of lakeside property, but the recreation value of the lake was destroyed.
March 2007	Flood	Alexandria	-	Warm temperatures caused a rapid snowmelt which caused the James River to rise above flood stage for several days. The flooding was minor to moderate and no significant damage was reported.
August 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including small branches blown down.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds damaged trees and power lines, resulting in power outages.
July 2004	Hail	Alexandria	-	Large hail damaged vehicles. The amount of damage was not known.
August 2004	Hail	Alexandria	-	Large hail dented vehicles.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, littering streets in Alexandria with branches and smaller debris.
July 2003	Hail	Alexandria	-	Large hail caused an unknown amount of crop damage.
April 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
July 2020	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
June 2008	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
May 2007	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
May 2007	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
May 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
June 2006	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
September 2006	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
May 2005	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
June 2005	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
July 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
September 2004	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
July 2003	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
June 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
July 2002	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
August 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Alexandria	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed
September 1999	Hail	Alexandria	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Hanson 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.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 82003929 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Hanson County	All 2 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.