Clay County, South Dakota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Clay County
U.S. county
Clay County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of South Dakota
South Dakota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
Founded	1862
Named for	Henry Clay
Seat	Vermillion
Largest city	Vermillion
Area
• Total	417 sq mi (1,080 km2)
• Land	412 sq mi (1,070 km2)
• Water	5.1 sq mi (13 km2)  1.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	14,967
• Estimate  (2021)	15,150
• Density	35.89/sq mi (13.858/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Clay County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 14,967. The county seat is Vermillion, which is also home to the University of South Dakota. The county is named for Henry Clay, American statesman, US Senator from Kentucky, and United States Secretary of State in the 19th century.

Clay County comprises the Vermillion, SD Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Sioux City-Vermillion, IA-SD-NE Combined Statistical Area.

History

Clay County began forming in 1859 when the land was opened for legal occupation. In the fall of that year, Ahira A. Partridge (who would later become the first elected sheriff of the county) crossed the Missouri river into the Dakota territory, and became the first white man to settle what would become Clay county; squatting on 160 acres of land that encompass most of the present-day city of Vermillion. In 1862 the county was formally organized. The Clay County Courthouse was built in 1912.

Clay County is the name of 17 other counties in the United States, most of them named in honor of Henry Clay.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 417 square miles (1,080 km²), of which 412 square miles (1,070 km²) is land and 5.1 square miles (13 km²) (1.2%) is water. It is the smallest county by area in South Dakota.

Protected areas

• Missouri National Recreational River (part)
• Spirit Mound Historic Prairie

Adjacent counties

• Turner County - north
• Lincoln County - northeast
• Union County - east
• Dixon County, Nebraska - southeast
• Cedar County, Nebraska - southwest
• Yankton County - west

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 13,864 people, 5,110 households, and 2,628 families in the county. The population density was 33.6 inhabitants per square mile (13.0/km²). There were 5,639 housing units at an average density of 13.7 per square mile (5.3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 91.1% White, 3.1% American Indian, 1.7% Asian, 1.3% black or African American, 0.5% from other races, and 2.3% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 43.9% were German, 16.4% were Norwegian, 15.8% were Irish, 8.7% were English, 5.4% were Swedish, and 1.8% were American.

Of the 5,110 households, 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 48.6% were non-families, and 32.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.91. The median age was 25.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,198 and the median income for a family was $61,159. Males had a median income of $37,059 versus $28,016 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,518. About 8.0% of families and 24.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.6% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Racial/ethnic makeup

The racial makeup of the county was 92.78% White, 1.00% Black or African American, 2.66% Native American, 1.95% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 1.31% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.0% were of German, 15.6% Norwegian, 9.9% Irish and 5.4% English ancestry.

Religion

From 2000 Census data, over 50% consider themselves "unclaimed".

• Mainline Protestant with 3,840 is most common around 28%; mainly Lutheran;
• Catholic with 1820 comes second around 13%;
• Evangelical Protestant with 613 would be around 5%; mainly Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod and Southern Baptist.

Communities

Cities

• Irene (partial)
• Vermillion (county seat)

Town

• Wakonda

Unincorporated communities

• Burbank
• Dalesburg
• Greenfield
• Meckling
• Westreville

Townships

The county is divided into twelve townships:

Education

• University of South Dakota - In 1862 the territorial legislature located the State University in Vermillion, but nothing was done until 1882 when Clay County voted $10,000 in bonds to construct a building on its campus.

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Clay (Dakota del Sur) para niños