Meade County, South Dakota

Meade County Education, Geography, and History

Meade County is a county located in the state of South Dakota. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 25,434. Its county seat is Sturgis. The county was created in 1889 and was named for Fort Meade, which was garrisoned as a United States military post in the area in 1878 and was named for General George Meade.

Meade County is part of the Rapid City, SD Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Etymology - Origin of Meade County Name

Meade is named for American Civil War general George Meade.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Meade County History

Meade County, created in 1889, organized in 1889, was named for Fort Meade, which was garrisoned as a US military post in 1878. The Fort was named General George Meade, Union Commander of the Battle of Gettysburg. Meade County is the largest county in South Dakota and has a land area of well over 2 million acres. It is larger than the combined areas of Delaware and Rhode Island. The county seat is located at Sturgis.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 3,482 square miles (9,020 km²), of which, 3,471 square miles (8,989 km²) of it is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) of it (0.34%) is water.

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Perkins County, South Dakota - north
• Ziebach County, South Dakota - east
• Pennington County, South Dakota - south
• Lawrence County, South Dakota - southwest
• Butte County, South Dakota - northwest

Education

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