South Dakota Historical Societies

This directory lists 3 historical societies, museums, and archives in South Dakota, led by the South Dakota State Historical Society in Pierre, which runs the State Archives, the State Historic Preservation Office and the state museum under one roof at the Cultural Heritage Center. For most research questions in this state, that building is where the answer sits.

Dakota Territory was organized in 1861 and South Dakota became the fortieth state on November 2, 1889. The state has 66 counties today, but more than forty earlier county names have been abolished or renamed, so a territorial-era record may be filed under a county that no longer exists. Statewide vital registration began in July 1905 and was not generally obeyed until about 1932; before that the county Register of Deeds, the clerk of courts and the churches are the sources.

Featured Historical Societies

Major repositories in South Dakota

The South Dakota State Archives at the Cultural Heritage Center, 900 Governors Drive, Pierre, holds more than 12,000 cubic feet of state, county and town government records, manuscripts, photographs and maps; its collections descend from the State Historical Society founded in 1891, and the Archives itself was created by the legislature in 1975. The research room is open Monday through Friday by appointment only, in two blocks (9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.); tell staff which collections you need when you book, and they will be waiting. Staff also answer mail and email requests for a fee. Online, the South Dakota Digital Archives and the Archives' collection indexes (1905 state census, naturalization, cemetery records, newspaper surname index, biographical index, Sanborn map index, World War I Gold Star volume) are the first stop.

• South Dakota State Library, Pierre: a division of the Department of Education that provides statewide electronic resources and interlibrary loan rather than a genealogy reading room.
• Center for Western Studies, Augustana University, 2121 S. Summit Avenue, Sioux Falls: founded in 1964, with more than 500 archival collections and a 37,000-volume library on the Northern Plains; museum and library open Monday-Friday 8-5, archives by appointment, free admission.
• University of South Dakota, I.D. Weeks Library, Vermillion, and South Dakota State University's Briggs Library, Brookings, hold university archives and regional collections.
• The State Historical Society Press (since 1997) publishes the journal South Dakota History and regional books.

South Dakota vital records

South Dakota's vital records system took effect in July 1905 and covers births, deaths, fetal deaths, marriages, divorces and burials. The Vital Records Office, South Dakota Department of Health, 221 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, holds the originals, and the 64 county Registers of Deeds share a central database and can issue most records. By state law these records are not open to public inspection, so for genealogy the office recommends a mail order and an informational photostatic copy, a photocopy of the original, which carries the most detail. County offices charge $15 per copy (the Minnehaha County Register of Deeds posts that fee for marriage and death copies).

• Births over 100 years old are free online in the Department of Health birth record search, which holds every record the state has on file with a birth date more than a century ago (452,468 records at last count), including delayed registrations of pre-1905 births. If a name is not there, no record was ever filed.
• Marriages: licenses are issued by the county Register of Deeds, and county marriage books predate the state system (Minnehaha County's begin in 1872, in Dakota Territory). Marriages from 1950 forward can be issued by any Register of Deeds office in the state.
• Deaths: statewide from 1905; copies for deaths since 1960 are available at any Register of Deeds, earlier ones from the county of death or the state office. Ancestry's South Dakota death index covers 1879-1955.
• Burial permits are filed by the Register of Deeds in the county of burial and are open to the public, a useful substitute when a death record is restricted.

Land, deed and homestead records

South Dakota is a public-land state: almost all of it passed from the federal government to settlers through local land offices as homestead entries, cash sales, timber-culture claims and railroad grants. The first title document is the General Land Office patent, searchable with images on the BLM General Land Office Records site; the homestead and cash-entry case files behind each patent, with proof of residence and sometimes naturalization papers, are at the National Archives, and FamilySearch has imaged BLM tract books (1820-1908) and cancelled land entry files (1861-1932). The BLM office with jurisdiction over South Dakota is in Billings, Montana.

Every later transaction is recorded by the county Register of Deeds, which indexes deeds, mortgages and plats by name and by legal description (township, range and section). Because the Register of Deeds also handles vital records and burial permits, one county office can answer most of a family's questions. Start with the legal description from a current tax statement, then run the grantor and grantee indexes backward to the patent; our guide on tracing a property's deed history explains the chain.

Newspapers and city directories

The State Historical Society's digital newspaper project, funded by National Endowment for the Humanities grants beginning with $294,665 in 2014 (renewed in 2016 and 2018) and carried out with the Minnesota Historical Society, has put roughly 90 South Dakota titles from more than 40 towns, dated 1875 to 1924, on Chronicling America, including German-language papers from Mitchell and Sioux Falls. The Archives' Newspapers Online page lists them city by city.

• Most South Dakota papers started between 1880 and 1910, and only a handful date from the territorial 1860s-1870s, so a pre-1880 obituary may not exist.
• The State Archives holds the largest newspaper microfilm collection in the state, lends some reels through interlibrary loan for a fee, and maintains a newspaper database and a newspaper surname index you can search before ordering film.
• For city directories of Sioux Falls, Rapid City, Aberdeen and other towns, ask the State Archives and the public libraries in those cities; see how to use old city directories.

Census, naturalization and statewide indexes

South Dakota took state censuses in 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935 and 1945, and Dakota Territory took one in 1885; a partial 1895 count also survives. The 1945 census is an every-name card file, and the State Archives hosts a free 1905 state census index and an index to the 1885 Civil War veterans schedule. All the state censuses are on FamilySearch and Ancestry. Federal censuses run from 1860 (when the area was enumerated as part of Dakota Territory) to 1950, and Indian census rolls for the Yankton, Crow Creek, Flandreau, Cheyenne River and other reservations cover 1874-1948.

• Naturalization: after 1889 the clerk of the circuit court in each county kept declarations and petitions. The State Archives has an online index to first papers and second papers, FamilySearch has South Dakota county naturalization records 1865-1972 with images, and the National Archives at Kansas City has a name index for federal court naturalizations.
• Cemeteries: the Archives' online cemetery record search (apps.sd.gov) is searchable by name, city and county.
• Military: the Archives' military records index, the World War I Gold Star volume and the Fourth South Dakota Infantry (1917) material are online.
• Other indexes: an 1870 agricultural census index, a biographical index of South Dakotans, Dakota Territory articles of incorporation, GFWC Pioneer Daughters biographies and the Iapi Oaye vital statistics listings (from the Dakota-language newspaper) are all on the collection indexes page.

Researching a house or building in South Dakota

The South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office is part of the State Historical Society in Pierre, with an archaeology office at 937 East North Street, Rapid City. It manages the National Register of Historic Places program and the State Register of Historic Places (a master list is posted as a PDF), surveys historic properties, and administers the state historical marker program, whose numbered master list is also downloadable. The key tool is CRGRID, the SHPO's cultural resource mapping database of surveyed architectural properties, which will tell you whether your house has already been surveyed. The office also keeps a Flickr gallery of National Register properties arranged by county.

South Dakota is unusually well served for fire insurance maps: the State Archives' Sanborn index covers 2,040 map sheets for 83 towns dated 1883-1941, and a separate fire underwriter map collection covers 374 towns, mostly from the 1950s and 1960s; the maps themselves are used at the Archives in Pierre. Combine them with the Register of Deeds chain and the county assessor's records, and read our guides on dating a house and researching an old building.

Working with South Dakota's local societies

Local history in South Dakota is organized by county, and many county historical societies double as the county museum, open seasonally or a few days a week; write before you travel, especially west of the Missouri. Know the county as it was named at the time of the event, since the Archives' county records are filed by historical jurisdiction. If you cannot visit Pierre, the Archives' research-request service and fee schedule cover lookups in censuses, newspapers and county records, and the Center for Western Studies in Sioux Falls is the strongest alternative for the eastern part of the state. For graves, start with the Archives' cemetery search, then the county society; see finding where someone is buried.

Additional South Dakota History Resources

• South Dakota State Archives - State archives at the Cultural Heritage Center, Pierre; collection indexes and research services
• South Dakota Digital Archives - Digitized photographs, records and manuscripts from the State Archives
• South Dakota Vital Records (Department of Health) - Birth, death, marriage and divorce records from 1905; genealogy ordering guidance
• South Dakota Birth Records Over 100 Years - Free searchable index of all state-filed births more than a century old
• South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office - National Register, State Register, historic sites survey and marker program
• CRGRID - SHPO database of surveyed historic properties
• South Dakota Newspapers Online - List of digitized South Dakota newspapers on Chronicling America, 1875-1924
• Center for Western Studies, Augustana University - Northern Plains archives and library in Sioux Falls
• South Dakota State Library - Statewide electronic resources and interlibrary loan
• BLM General Land Office Records - Homestead and cash-entry patents for South Dakota land

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I get a 1910 South Dakota birth record?

Search the Department of Health's free online index of births more than 100 years old; it contains every birth record the state has on file for that period, including late-filed pre-1905 births. Then order an informational photostatic copy by mail from the Vital Records Office, 221 West Capitol Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501, or from the county Register of Deeds; county offices charge $15 per copy.

Where are South Dakota marriage records from before 1905?

In the county Register of Deeds office, which issued the licenses. County marriage books often predate statehood; Minnehaha County's begin in 1872 under Dakota Territory. Statewide filing started in July 1905, and any Register of Deeds can issue certificates for marriages from 1950 forward.

Which state censuses did South Dakota take?

1905, 1915, 1925, 1935 and 1945, plus the 1885 Dakota Territory census and a partial 1895 census. The State Archives hosts a free 1905 index and an index to the 1885 Civil War veterans schedule; the full set is on FamilySearch and Ancestry.

How do I find my ancestor's South Dakota naturalization papers?

Use the South Dakota State Archives' online index to first papers (declarations) and second papers (petitions), then order copies from the Archives or the clerk of courts in that county, which kept the records after 1889. FamilySearch has images of county naturalization records 1865-1972, and the National Archives at Kansas City indexes federal court naturalizations for Dakota Territory and South Dakota.