Stanley County, South Dakota

Stanley County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,980. Its county seat is Fort Pierre. The county was created in 1873, and was organized in 1890. It is named for David S. Stanley, a commander at Fort Sully from 1866 to 1874, which was located nearby.

Stanley County is included in the Pierre, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Stanley County's northwestern boundary is defined by the Cheyenne River which flows eastward, to discharge into the Missouri River at the most northerly point of Stanley County. From there, the county's northeast boundary is defined by the southeastward-flowing Missouri. The county terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, carved by drainages. The area is partially devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the east; its highest point is in the SW county corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (4.8%) is water.

The eastern portion of South Dakota's counties (48 of 66) observe Central Time; the western counties (18 of 66) observe Mountain Time. Stanley County is on the western end of counties which observe Central Time, and its residents are split east–west in their time observance. Although Fort Pierre, the seat of Stanley County, is located in the Mountain Time Zone, most residents of the city use Central Time because of close social and economic ties with Pierre, which is located in the Central Time Zone.

Major highways

20px U.S. Highway 14
20px U.S. Highway 83
20px South Dakota Highway 34
20px South Dakota Highway 63
23px South Dakota Highway 1806

Adjacent counties

Dewey County – north
Sully County – northeast
Hughes County – east
Lyman County – southeast
Jones County – south
Haakon County – west
Ziebach County – northwest

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|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<br>1790–1960 1900–1990<br>1990–2000 2010–2020 Of the residents, 24.7% were under the age of 18 and 20.8% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 42.6 years. For every 100 females there were 98.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 95.6 males.

The population density was .

In popular culture

The Triple U Buffalo Ranch in northern Stanley County was used in filming the 1990 movie Dances with Wolves.

Notable person

Casey Tibbs (1929–1990): cowboy, rodeo performer, and actor

Politics

Stanley County have traditionally voted Republican. No Democratic presidential candidate has won Stanley County since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, whilst Michael Dukakis during the drought-affected 1988 election is the last Democrat to top forty percent.