Historical Marker · No. 617
Peter Norbeck 1870-1936
Spink County · South Dakota
Erected by Spink County Historical Society Bicentennial Committee
Norbeck's fortune and his standing in Spink County came out of the ground. A driller of deep water, oil and gas wells from 1895, he moved to Redfield in 1900, where he and his neighbor Charles Nicholson ran an artesian well business. Their masonry carriage house at 910 East Second Street, built between 1907 and 1909, joined the National Register on January 21, 2015. Using rigs of his own design, Norbeck drilled more than 10,000 water wells, often the difference between prosperity and just getting by. He died at Redfield on December 20, 1936.
What the plaque says
Dedicated to former resident Peter Norbeck 1870-1936 First native South Dakota governor, statesman, United States senator, patriot, well driller. Sponsor and founder: Mount Rushmore National Memorial Custer State Park Wind Cave National Park Grand Tetons National Park Badlands National Monument Iron Mountain Road, Needles Highway Author; Migratory Waterfowl Act Spink County Historical Society Bicentennial Committee
Where it stands
44.87558, -98.51377 · Directions
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