Aurora County, South Dakota
Historic newspapers, landmarks, and county history layers for genealogists and local historians.
At a glance
SummaryThe National Register of Historic Places includes 9 listed properties in the county, first listed in 1993. Most listings are in or near White Lake, Plankinton, Stickney.
Summary generated automatically from the source data on this page.
Newspapers
Library of CongressNewspaper directory data for South Dakota is not yet loaded on this site. Browse Aurora titles at the Library of Congress.
National Register of Historic Places
NPS NRHP1 of 9 listings mapped; some locations are restricted by NPS to protect sensitive sites.
9 listed properties
| Property | City | Listed |
|---|---|---|
| Aurora County Courthouse | Plankinton | 1993 |
| Hilton House | White Lake | 2000 |
| Hofmeister House | White Lake | 2007 |
| Lincoln House | Stickney | 2002 |
| Patten Consolidated School | White Lake | 2008 |
| Raesly House | Plankinton | 2004 |
| Smith, William P., House | Stickney | 2004 |
| Sweep Hotel | Plankinton | 2005 |
| Underwood United Methodist Church | White Lake | 2008 |
Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Property links open NRHP nomination files at the National Archives.
County formation
Newberry AHCBAurora was formed in 1879 (1879-10-01) from CRAGIN (Dakota Territory, extinct), WETMORE (Dakota Territory, extinct).
AURORA created by Dakota Territory in present South Dakota from CRAGIN (Dakota Territory, extinct) and WETMORE (Dakota Territory, extinct).
Source: Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
Population by decade
CensusAurora County population from 1880 to 2020 (Census historical series).
| 1880 | 1900 | 1920 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 69 | 4,011 | 7,246 | 5,387 | 5,020 | 4,749 | 3,628 | 3,058 | 2,747 |
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau historical county population (Forstall 1790–1990) and public-domain / CC0 county population series through 2020.
Cemeteries & historical places
USGS GNIS19 cemeteries and 0 historical populated places (ghost towns / former settlements) recorded in USGS GNIS for this county.
Cemeteries — 19 of 19 listed
| Name |
|---|
| Aurora Center Cemetery |
| Aurora Center Cemetery |
| Crystal Lake Cemetery |
| Dudley Cemetery |
| Knutson Cemetery |
| Mizpah Cemetery |
| Old Saint Paul Cemetery |
| Plankinton Cemetery |
| Quaker Cemetery |
| Robey Cemetery |
| Saint Johns Cemetery |
| Saint Johns Lutheran Cemetery |
| Saint Mary Cemetery |
| Saint Paul Cemetery |
| Saint Peters Catholic Cemetery |
| Silver Ridge Cemetery |
| Underwood Cemetery |
| Union Cemetery |
| White Lake Cemetery |
Source: USGS Geographic Names Information System (public domain). Cemeteries from the 2021 NationalFile archive; historical places from GNIS HistoricalFeatures topical extract.
Historical markers
HMdb linkMarker text and photos from the Historical Marker Database (HMdb) are not embedded here. HMdb allows non-commercial reuse with attribution, but commercial/compensated use needs written permission; this is a commercial site, so we only link out.
Search HMdb for Aurora County, South Dakota
Terms: hmdb.org/copyright.asp. Linking is encouraged by HMdb.