Brule County, South Dakota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Brule County
U.S. county
Chamberlain, South Dakota and the Missouri River
Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1875 (created) 1879 (organized)
Named for	Brulé subtribe of Lakota people
Seat	Chamberlain
Largest city	Chamberlain
Area
• Total	846 sq mi (2,190 km2)
• Land	817 sq mi (2,120 km2)
• Water	29 sq mi (80 km2)  3.5%
Population  (2020)
• Total	5,247
• Estimate  (2023)	5,311
• Density	6.202/sq mi (2.3947/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Brule County is a county located in the state of South Dakota in the United States. In 2020, about 5,247 people lived there. The main town and county seat (where the county government is) is Chamberlain.

History

Brule County was first created on January 14, 1875. It was formed from a part of Charles Mix County. However, in May 1875, the US President Grant ordered that no one could settle in Brule County. This order was later canceled.

The county's government was fully set up in September 1879. On March 9, 1883, Brule County grew a little bit when some land from Buffalo County was added. The county got even bigger on June 4, 1891, when American Island in the Missouri River became part of it. The county's borders have stayed the same since then.

Geography

The Missouri River flows south along the western edge of Brule County. The land in the county has gentle, rolling hills. Some of this land is used for farming. The county covers a total area of about 846 square miles (2,191 square kilometers). Most of this, about 817 square miles (2,116 square kilometers), is land. The remaining 29 square miles (75 square kilometers) is water, which is about 3.5% of the total area.

Major roads

These are the main highways that go through Brule County:

• Interstate 90
• South Dakota Highway 45
• South Dakota Highway 50

Neighboring counties

Brule County shares its borders with these other counties:

• Buffalo County to the north
• Jerauld County to the northeast
• Aurora County to the east
• Charles Mix County to the south
• Lyman County to the west

Protected natural areas

Brule County has several areas set aside to protect wildlife and nature. These include:

• Boyer State Game Production Area
• Brule Bottom State Game Production Area
• Burning Brule State Game Production Area
• Chain lake State Game Production Area
• Chamberlain State Game Production Area
• Elm Creek State Game Production Area
• Elm Creek State Lakeside Use Area
• Hoover State Game Production Area
• Kimball State Game Production Area
• Lake Sixteen State Game Production Area

Lakes

• Lake Francis Case (part of this large lake is in Brule County)
• Red Lake

Population

2020 population count

According to the 2020 census, Brule County had 5,247 people. There were 2,024 households and 1,271 families living in the county. On average, there were about 6.4 people per square mile.

2010 population count

In the 2010 census, there were 5,255 people living in Brule County. Most people (88.4%) were white. About 8.5% were Native American. People of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. The average age of people in the county was 41.3 years old.

Communities

These are the different types of communities you can find in Brule County:

Cities

• Chamberlain (This is the county seat)
• Kimball

Town

• Pukwana

Census-designated places

These are areas that are like towns but are not officially incorporated as cities or towns:

• Bijou Hills
• Cedar Grove Colony
• Grass Ranch Colony
• Ola

Unincorporated community

• Grandview

Townships

Townships are smaller local government areas within the county:

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Brule para niños