Aurora County, South Dakota

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Aurora County, South Dakota
Map
Map of South Dakota highlighting Aurora County
Location in the state of South Dakota
Map of the USA highlighting South Dakota
South Dakota's location in the USA
Statistics
Founded February 22, 1879
Seat Plankinton
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

713 sq mi (1,845 km²)
708 sq mi (1,834 km²)
4 sq mi (11 km²), 0.61%
Population
 - (2000)
 - Density

3,058
4/sq mi (2/km²)
Named for: Aurora


Aurora County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of 2000, the population is 3,058. Its county seat is Plankinton.6

Contents

[edit] History

Aurora County, named for Aurora the Roman goddess of the dawn, was created by the South Dakota legislature on February 22, 1879, and organized in 1881 when three county commissioners were appointed. The county commission first met on August 29, 1881, and named Plankinton the county seat, an act which was ratified by voters in November 1882.

[edit] Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,845 km² (713 mi²). 1,834 km² (708 mi²) of it is land and 11 km² (4 mi²) of it (0.61%) is water.

[edit] Townships

The county is divided into twenty townships:

  • Aurora Township
  • Belford Township
  • Bristol Township
  • Center Township
  • Cooper Township
  • Crystal Lake Township
  • Dudley Township
  • Eureka Township
  • Firesteel Township
  • Gales Township
  • Hopper Township
  • Lake Township
  • Palatine Township
  • Patten Township
  • Plankinton Township
  • Pleasant Lake Township
  • Pleasant Valley Township
  • Truro Township
  • Washington Township
  • White Lake Township

[edit] Major Highways

[edit] Adjacent Counties

[edit] Demographics

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1900 4,011
1910 6,143 53.2%
1920 7,246 18.0%
1930 7,139 -1.5%
1940 5,387 -24.5%
1950 5,020 -6.8%
1960 4,749 -5.4%
1970 4,183 -11.9%
1980 3,628 -13.3%
1990 3,136 -13.6%
2000 3,058 -2.5%

As of the census2 of 2000, there were 3,058 people, 1,165 households, and 816 families residing in the county. The population density was 2/km² (4/mi²). There were 1,298 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (2/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.68% White, 0.29% Black or African American, 1.93% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 1.44% from other races, and 0.56% from two or more races. 2.09% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,165 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.30% were married couples living together, 5.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.90% were non-families. 28.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.70% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.60% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 22.10% from 25 to 44, 22.20% from 45 to 64, and 21.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 104.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.80 males.

[edit] Cities and towns


Flag of South Dakota
State of South Dakota
Pierre (capital)
Regions

Badlands | Black Hills | Coteau des Prairies

Cities

Aberdeen | Brandon | Brookings | Huron | Madison | Mitchell | Pierre | Rapid City | Sioux Falls | Spearfish | Sturgis | Vermillion | Watertown | Yankton

Counties

Aurora | Beadle | Bennett | Bon Homme | Brookings | Brown | Brule | Buffalo | Butte | Campbell | Charles Mix | Clark | Clay | Codington | Corson | Custer | Davison | Day | Deuel | Dewey | Douglas | Edmunds | Fall River | Faulk | Grant | Gregory | Haakon | Hamlin | Hand | Hanson | Harding | Hughes | Hutchinson | Hyde | Jackson | Jerauld | Jones | Kingsbury | Lake | Lawrence | Lincoln | Lyman | Marshall | McCook | McPherson | Meade | Mellette | Miner | Minnehaha | Moody | Pennington | Perkins | Potter | Roberts | Sanborn | Shannon | Spink | Stanley | Sully | Todd | Tripp | Turner | Union | Walworth | Yankton | Ziebach