Oakwood Lakes / Big Sioux River - Volga

The bronze's last paragraph is Volga's whole founding, and the town outgrew it. Settlers first called the place Bandy Town after an early family; the railroad named it Volga in December 1879, after either the Russian river or Volga, Iowa, and the Western Town Lot Company founded it on December 27. As the end of track from November 1879 to May 1880 it filled fast, and Laura Ingalls Wilder gave it a chapter, Pa Goes to Volga, in The Long Winter. South Dakota's first soybean processing plant opened here in 1996; the town counted 2,113 people in 2020.

What the plaque says

Oakwood Lakes Big Sioux River - Volga OAKWOOD LAKES, called by the Sioux, Te-tonka-ha, meaning the place of the Great Summer Lodge, lie in a scenic state park 7 miles N and 3 W. First visitors of record were Nicollet & Fremont, July 8, 1838. During the Indian Disturbances of 1859 Capt. D. Davidson with 2 companies 2nd U.S. Inf. from Ft. Randall camped at these lakes and probably built the breastwork, still visible, on the North shore of Round Lake. Later, during the War of the Outbreak 1862-65 they were used by small detachments of soldiers. Byron E. and Warren Pay in 1873 settled on the east shore of these lakes. While celebrating the 4th of July, Hattie, wife of Byron, christened their claim Oakwood, which became the name of the lakes and also of the Village which in 1877-79 flourished for a time until the advent of the railroads made it a "ghost town." James S. Cummins 4 May 1877 was first P. M. THE BIG SIOUX RIVER, 2 miles E, was the western limit of the Sioux Cession made by the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851 and the eastern limit of the Yankton cession of 1858 which ex- tended west to the Missouri. VOLGA was the 1879 terminus of the Dakota Central and on 2 December Erick Nelson became its first postmaster. From Volga, as a supply base, the "race for the river" between the Milwaukee from Marion Jct. and the Dakota Central (North Western) was staged in 1880. Erected 1956 by Brookings County Historical Association and South Dakota Highway Commission

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Oakwood 1877-1894 — 7.1 mi
• Brookings / Hillcrest Park — 7.7 mi
• Lake Campbell Lutheran Church — 8.3 mi
• Oakwood Lakes State Park — 8.5 mi