Webster, South Dakota

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Webster is a city in Day County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,952 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Day County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Media
4 Famous Webster/Day County Natives
5 The Murder of Stacey Gaikowski
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Webster is located at 45°20′1″N, 97°31′10″W (45.333645, -97.519452)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.9 km² (1.5 mi²), all land.

Webster has been assigned the ZIP code 57274 and the FIPS place code 69780.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,952 people, 866 households, and 512 families residing in the city. The population density was 505.8/km² (1,308.9/mi²). There were 1,023 housing units at an average density of 265.1/km² (685.9/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.49% White, 1.23% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 1.08% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.26% of the population.

There were 866 households out of which 25.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.8% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.8% were non-families. 37.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 23.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 23.2% under the age of 18, 5.6% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 20.7% from 45 to 64, and 27.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 87.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,457, and the median income for a family was $40,982. Males had a median income of $30,121 versus $18,380 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,398. About 9.0% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.4% of those under age 18 and 8.5% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Media

The Webster Reporter and Farmer is Day County's newspaper. http://reporterandfarmer.com/

[edit] Famous Webster/Day County Natives

Sigurd Anderson - Governor of South Dakota, 1951-1954. Webster's airfield is the Sigurd Anderson airport.
Tom Brokaw - Retired television anchorman for NBC was born in Webster.
Brock Lesnar - Professional Wrestler. Comes from Webster but billed as being from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Myron Floren - accordion virtuoso from The Lawrence Welk Show was born and raised in Roslyn, South Dakota. When he was ten years old, he persuaded his father to buy a ten dollar accordion from the Sears and Roebuck catalog. In an interview, he said he credited his great finger and forearm strength to years of milking cows on his family's Day County farm.
Jesse Riddle - born and raised in Webster, graduating in the Class of 1955. Along with his sister, Anna May, founded Riddle's Jewelry, a prominent chain of jewelry stores in the upper Midwest.

[edit] The Murder of Stacey Gaikowski

John Dale Trautman, 39, walked into neighbor 26 year old Stacey Gaikowski's Webster home in the early morning hours of September 13, 2005 and killed her while her 9 month old son slept in the next room. Family and friends became concerned the next morning when Gaikowski failed to show up for work a few blocks away at Dacotah Bank on Webster's main street.

For most of three days, shocked residents locked their doors and took extra care to watch out for one another before Trautman was apprehended. Trautman reportedly worked at Webster Scale and was married with two children.

Stacey Gaikowski's funeral mass at Christ the King Catholic Church was standing room only.

She is survived by a large, Polish-American family including her husband of three years and her young son.

Trautman is charged with first degree murder and first degree burglary. He is also charged in connection with a June, 2005 rape.

It was the first murder in Webster since 1983.