Sully County, South Dakota
Sully County | |
|---|---|
Sully Courthouse (2013) | |
Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota | |
South Dakota's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 44°43′20.37″N 100°07′53.036″W / 44.7223250°N 100.13139889°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | South Dakota |
| Founded | 1873 (created) 1883 (organized) |
| Named after | Alfred Sully |
| Seat | Onida |
| Largest city | Onida |
| Area | |
• Total | 1,070 sq mi (2,800 km2) |
| • Land | 1,007 sq mi (2,610 km2) |
| • Water | 63 sq mi (160 km2) 5.9% |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 1,446 |
• Estimate (2024) | 1,468 |
| • Density | 1.4/sq mi (0.52/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Congressional district | At-large |
| Website | www |
Sully County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,446, making it the fifth-least populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Onida. The county was created in 1873 and organized in 1883. It is named after General Alfred Sully, who built Fort Sully.
Sully County is included in the Micropolitan Statistical Area of Pierre.
Sully County was the location of the largest African American homesteader settlement in the state, the Blair Colony. An Illinois man named Norvel Blair arrived in Fairbank Township in 1884, after sending his sons Benjamin and Patrick to investigate the area for settlement. Blair's financial success, achieved through farming and breeding racehorses, attracted dozens of other Black families to the colony. Blair became the first Black South Dakotan to serve on a school board.
The decline of South Dakota agriculture during the Great Depression led most Blair Colony residents to seek work in larger cities like Minneapolis and Chicago. A historical marker in the county seat of Onida remembers the colony.