Almost DEAD Towns In Rural SOUTH DAKOTA - Far Off The Interstate

all right everyone I am in rural South Dakota anyway here's the map uh of course I'm the blue dot there in the middle pretty much in the middle of South Dakota you can see Minneapolis to the east Omaha South Rapid City in Sioux Falls two biggest cities in South Dakota or on either side of me I am in the town of Highmore but before I tell you about the town let's back up and check the miles uh can you see that 94 709 miles on the Bronco today there are about 680 people in the town Peak population was in 1970 there were 1173 people so what I'm going to do is head into downtown and we'll talk some more median age is 55. it is an aging Town 45 of the town is 60 years old or older 51 percent of the town is female that leaves 49 percent male 19 of those females are widowed zero percent of the men are widowed the town is 99 White one percent Hispanic it's a beautiful day here in South Dakota a little cool it is 59 degrees out here in July 59 degrees Fahrenheit that is 15 degrees Celsius and there's a little bit of a wind and it's pretty cool I stopped at a gas station the people are wearing jackets and long pants in July it's a bit of a shock to this Texan how cool it is because uh of course in Texas it's flirting with a hundred anyway Let's uh stop and say hi to these guys huh is that their eyes covered up I have no idea why that would be I'm sure somebody knows and can explain anyway [Music] um as I drive into town a little bit more information uh pretty high incomes median household income is sixty thousand two hundred dollars a year that's 1160 a week that's some pretty good money and cost of living very low um median home values here is seventy nine thousand dollars so you can get a house for well under a hundred thousand dollars and you're making you know over 1100 a week that's pretty good crime's a little high 3.2 incidents per 100 people last year U.S average is 2.3 but over 90 percent of it was property crime now this is the county seat of Hyde County the entire population of Hyde County is 1260 people that is the population of the entire County that's shocking to me there is no people out here uh Peak population of the county was in 1930 there were 3 700 people here then so it's lost a lot of population the whole area has a looks like a grocery store mashic Food Center anyway uh swing around get you a look everywhere here in downtown there's a County Courthouse here somewhere so I'm gonna find it and then we'll look at some residential a couple other things see how much gas costs I have found the county courthouse right here um let's see man there's nothing going on is there it is a Thursday by the way about 10 A.M now this County Courthouse was built in 1911. it's classical Revival so that means it took cues from ancient Rome there's usually columns involved and you can see them but overall these kind of buildings are restrained if you will they don't go crazy with the uh styling the ancient Rome styling a lot of buildings in DC are classical Revival An Architect by the name of w m Rich out of Deadwood South Dakota designed the building seeing a few like this that appears to be abandoned it's a really interesting looking home too that's kind of like a barn in design isn't it it's a shame to see that uh in that kind of condition this is a big beautiful house yeah that's a beauty isn't it High more fire department and ambulance service looks like a haunted house doesn't it zoom in a little yeah that one is abandoned I think that was quite the house in its day I like that [Music] a lot of interesting lines that would be worth renovating well they do have a gas station here in town uh looks like gas is 339. one of the big businesses in town selling farming equipment see that over there Titan Machinery in addition to that other grocery store downtown they have a Dollar General and next to the Dollar General is the cornfield [Music] all right everyone I am entering the town of Harold Herald South Dakota just pulling into town now right off the bat I see this big Walmart truck backed into this building loading up something what is that bird seed Global Harvest bird seed top industry here I'm guessing maybe can you read that because they've got lots of stuff going on uh anyway I'm pulling into the very small downtown relation here was in 1930 there were 309 people by 2020 the population had dropped to 101. but I was looking at the current population two years later 2022 it's back up to 130. so that is again of 29 people the past couple years the former bar it looks like that is no longer here or in operation anyway so I dove into the numbers a little bit the number one population group here by age is children 1 to 17. they are 28 of the population here the second biggest is people aged 30 to 39 they are 22 of the population so those two age groups make up 50 of this town's population now what does that tell us that tells us that some people in their 30s have had some kids recently looks pretty abandoned though doesn't it this uh downtown now the income here or incomes here are good uh 62 900 a year that's a median household income that's over 1200 a week so there is some money being made here and cost of living is very low eighty one thousand dollars for a a house here that's the median home value eighty one thousand dollars uh you sit in poverty too um four percent that is the poverty level here children 17 and under zero zero percent so that's telling us that people who live here are making a little bit of money and uh none of the children none of them live in poverty now the town is 94 White two percent native and four percent mixed now there's not much to the town looks like some of the younger folks with their kids right there exactly what we were talking about crime is about uh average compared to the US last year 2.4 per 100 people U.S average is 2.3 so that was a total of three crimes last year one of them I dive down into it a little bit one of them was a violent crime the other two were property crime that's all the info I could get I don't know what that particular violent crime was but yeah three crimes here last year total well there was a park here with some stuff for kids to play on that looks like it used to be a combination tennis court basketball court looks long abandoned doesn't it anyway uh well let me take a look around a little bit I'll hear him back in downtown yeah there's nothing happening here Harold South Dakota here's what looks like the fire department here's what's on the other side of the street and in the fire department here I'm guessing [Music] I'm not sure if uh I guess this fire engine can put out a fire or two it's just setting to the side here hmm yeah the roads are dirt roads once you get off the main drag there and there's not too much more to the town than what I have shown you already very quiet got it a couple of churches right across the street from each other there's one right here Emmanuel Lutheran it says and there's another one over here I don't know that one is yeah it is United Methodist Church looks like it might have been a school but I don't think this is a building that's being used now hmm let's take a look [Music] I think that might be the school right there to get to the side look out the window Harold Cardinal boys state B basketball champions 51 and 92. yeah I think that's the school I think this used to be the school but it's not in use now look here it's on the left hand side it says here let me adjust this a little boys entrance and on the right is the girls entrance so I guess the uh genders were segregated interesting but I don't think that building is in use anymore it's in pretty bad shape what do you guys think cool well all right pretty much driven down every street so yeah let's head to the next town all right everyone I am entering the town of blunt blunt South Dakota according to this sign I'm heading towards the business district which would be downtown City Center as you folks say in Europe [Music] no trucks all right let's check it out I think I'm already here in the city center looks pretty quiet doesn't it the town only has 330 people in it because that's no surprise uh in 1960 there were 530 people here so the town has lost some population [Music] surprising numbers though there's the fire department I'll take another look at it in a second um well let's what is that is that formerly or maybe still currently City Hall hard to say uh here's the post office right here in a pretty big building um let's see uh the median age of the town is 31. now that's pretty young I had to look into those numbers a bit and I'll tell you those as I show you this old hardware store it's pretty cool uh anyway um I dived into the numbers a bit the biggest population group is children 1 to 17 that's 37 percent of the people who live here second biggest is people 18 to 40 that's 28 so that might explain the um well that will explain the young age and it suggests that the town is starting to grow again maybe not sure but there are definitely some younger people having kids here now the age group that is 70 years old and older is only seven percent of the population so according to those numbers this town is not dying out 55 of the town is male so that's 45 female uh anyway um incomes are high just like the other towns previous to this 56 800 a year that's the median household income that's uh 1100 a week that's pretty good money [Music] um especially because of the low cost of living uh home values here are right at a hundred thousand that's the median home value here 102 000. [Music] hmm sixty percent of the town is married that's a little bit higher than the U.S average U.S average is 50. now that is an interesting apparatus to hold your mailbox isn't it uh 84 of the town is white and 10 is Native American five percent is Hispanic the last one percent is mixed crime uh last year 3.3 incidents per 100 people U.S average is 2.3 a pretty house there yeah this is what we got across the street though this one looks fairly well abandoned nature is starting to take it back anyway crime um they had 10 total two violent crimes and eight property crimes I couldn't get a further breakdown so I'm not sure what those two violent crimes were be interesting to know that wouldn't it like the other towns poverty is really low uh seven percent well under the U.S average so even though it doesn't really look at this is a prosperous town like the other two before it the town is faded all of them are but there's some money here in all these towns [Music] people here apparently they don't flaunt it they've got some pretty good incomes and uh they're not blowing it on crazy stuff I don't even see real expensive cars anywhere and there's a church it's the first one I've found so far doesn't have a name on it hmm let's see I guess I'll go down this little alley [Music] uh head or make my way over to that fire department here [Music] take a quick look shall we yeah blunt rural Fire Department FedEx UPS come on now there isn't a Dollar General any kind of grocery store like that but they do have this small convenience store with gasoline 376 for a gallon of unleaded it's pretty high I think the sign says there's a bar and grill here in the back there is Med Creek Bar I'm not sure if it's open now Bush light that's a beer I cannot drink and I can drink just about any kind of beer but anyway all right well said to the next town I am entering the town of Onida got this guy running around loose here what's up fella uh Onida has a population of about 580 people Peak population was 19 was in 1980 there were 850 people here median age is 48. that's an older town fifty percent of the town is over the age of 50. 54 of the town is male so that leaves 46 percent of the town female and 10 of those females are widowed the town is 93 White 3 Hispanic four percent mixed I'm heading into downtown now as you can see uh it's a church First Presbyterian Church now is the county seat for Sully County probably see that I'm approaching the county courthouse the entire County like the one previous that I talked about has a very low population 1471 people in the entire County Peak population was in 1930 there were almost 4 000 people here so the county has lost a lot of population beautiful building though the county courthouse built in 1912 classical Revival architecture [Music] so ancient Rome cues some columns a little bit conservative though in the design that's really nice though anyway let's see uh let me show you some of the features and sites of the Town here's another church Oneida United Methodist Church [Music] now um again like the three previous towns incomes are good 56 300 a year that's the median household income that's 1083 a week median home values here are definitely a little bit higher though 130 000. uh here is post office the United States Post Office Oneida South Dakota a number that really uh jumps out 97 percent of the town has graduated high school U.S average is 85. that's uh that's really high crime is about the same as the U.S on average 2.6 incidents per 100 people U.S averages 2.3 so uh not a high crime area definitely some nice houses here but then you'll see one like this it's got a lot of potential though doesn't it but then right next door look at that one the big porch upstairs that's fantastic uh anyway I'm driving through the or one of the neighborhood streets here it's really pretty isn't it this is what you see coming in the town big grain operation [Music] yeah let's take a look at it and uh it goes to the other side too [Music] so uh yeah the main employers Big Industry here is that a little Roadrunner I don't know if you can see them anyway um yeah a lot going on here see these uh a mile out of town driving in all right just off downtown there's the fire department now across the street from the county courthouse they have this uh little grocery store it looks like Don's Food Center kind of tucked in the corner there they have some food stuff in there you can see all right everyone so that's going to be it for South Dakota we're heading up into Minnesota next uh gonna go to the spot where the Mississippi River begins where it is just a small little creek I've always wanted to see that can't wait I'm going to also explore some small towns in that area of Minnesota that will be up next be looking for it see you then

Channel: Joe & Nic's Road Trip

Views: 48,488

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Id: f8OoHJAxFQs

Length: 31min 55sec (1915 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 15 2023