Dolph

The pointer is exact in an old measure. A rod is sixteen and a half feet, a quarter of the 66-foot Gunter's chain with which the federal land survey laid out this prairie's section lines, so Arneson's store stood a few strides north of this post on Highway 28. Dolph lasted about fourteen years as a post office village, from his appointment in 1893 until 1907, when the South Dakota Central Railroad staked a new townsite three miles east and Lake Norden drew away the store, the mail and, in time, the village's buildings.

What the plaque says

Dolph -- One rod Due North Gustav A. S. Arneson who ran a general store was appointed postmaster June 7, 1893 and was succeeded by Edward N. (sometimes known as Andrew N.) Johnson on 1 February 1898. Peter Wayrynen had a black- smith shop. When the railroad established Lake Norden in 1907 the store and post office were moved there. Erected 1963 by local citizens and State Highway Commission

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Ingalls Homestead and the De Smet Historic Homes — 20 mi
  The quarter section a mile from De Smet that Charles Ingalls filed on in 1880 and proved up in 1886, the house in town he built, and the cottonwoods he planted.

More markers nearby

• South Dakota Central Railroad — 3.0 mi
• Historic Area — 9.7 mi
• Laketon Post Office / Oakwood Post Office — 11 mi
• 'Ol Spot Mortimer's Cabin — 16 mi