Wessington Springs, South Dakota

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wessington Springs is a city in Jerauld County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,011 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Jerauld County^GR6.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 External links

[edit] Geography

Location of Wessington Springs, South Dakota

Wessington Springs is located at 44°4′55″N, 98°34′13″W (44.081842, -98.570244)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.6 km² (1.8 mi²), all land.

Wessington Springs has been assigned the ZIP code 57382 and the FIPS place code 70220.

[edit] History

The Wessington Springs townsite was founded in 1880 and platted in 1882, early in the era of agricultural settlement in the region. The town's boom era began in 1903, when a branch line of the Milwaukee Road railroad was constructed into the town from the east.

The town was the home of Wessington Springs College, an institution of higher learning that existed from 1887 until 1968.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,011 people, 505 households, and 285 families residing in the city. The population density was 221.8/km² (572.9/mi²). There were 580 housing units at an average density of 127.2/km² (328.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.01% White, 0.40% Native American, 0.20% Asian, and 0.40% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.30% of the population.

There were 505 households out of which 16.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.4% were non-families. 39.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 26.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.92 and the average family size was 2.50.

In the city the population was spread out with 15.4% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 15.6% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 40.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 55 years. For every 100 females there were 82.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,736, and the median income for a family was $40,962. Males had a median income of $28,929 versus $18,333 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,108. About 3.4% of families and 7.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.0% of those under age 18 and 8.1% of those age 65 or over.