Historical Marker · No. 653

You Are Entering South Dakota

Roberts County · South Dakota
Erected by South Dakota State Highway Commission, 1956

This copy stands at the opposite corner from the summit the bronze boasts of, and its own low figure is off. The U.S. Geological Survey puts South Dakota's lowest point at Big Stone Lake, in this county, at 966 feet, not 979. White Rock, a mile south of the North Dakota line on the Bois de Sioux, is the state's most northeasterly community, named for a white granite boulder near the first townsite that was later destroyed and replaced by a grain elevator. Its post office ran from 1885 to 1965; six people lived there in 2020.

What the plaque says

You Are Entering South Dakota CREATED with its TWIN, North Dakota, 2 November 1889, its 77,047 square miles ranks 15th in size. Those square miles include: exceptional corn land in the SE, grass land in the W, wheat land in the N and PRODUCTIVE land all over. Its lowest point, BIG STONE, is 979 feet above sea level; its high- est, HARNEY PEAK, at 7,247 feet is the highest point in the U. S. A. east of the Rockies. The BLACK HILLS "THE AMERICAN ALPS" are scenically unsurpassed and are the richest "100 MILE SQUARE" minerally in the world. MT. RUSHMORE, "THE SHRINE OF DEMOCRACY" is visited by hundreds of thousands annually. Its BADLANDS are weirdly beautiful and undeniably bad. ANNUALLY it ranks in the first ten states in the production of wheat, corn, oats, barley, rye, grass, and cattle. Its HOMESTAKE MINE is the greatest gold producer in the western hemisphere. SOUTH DAKOTA is "ECONOMICALLY, PHYSICALLY, RECREATIONALLY" a State of "INFINITE VARIETY." Its economy is well balanced. FIRST visited by white men, VERENDRYE, in 1743, for a century it was a fur traders paradise with a most romantic history. ITS highways are well marked; roadside PARKS frequent; historic markers, such as this, are to be found therein and adjacent to historic sites. Our MOTTO "UNDER GOD THE PEOPLE RULE" is symbolic of life in South Dakota. Welcome to our State. Erected 1956 by South Dakota State Highway Commission You are now leaving South Dakota and about to enter North Dakota our twin State at creation, a great State of the land. Famous for its Red River Valley, wheat and a progressive and self-reliant people. Erected 1956 by South Dakota State Highway Commission

Where it stands

45.93488, -96.61859 · Directions

More markers nearby

← All historical markers