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The
Beginning...Few
towns have such a romantic beginning as Elk Point. It was named
by Indians long before settlement of whites was every dreamed
of. Lying between the Missouri and Sioux Rivers, surrounded by
timber, it was a runway for elk. This was known as the "elk
point".
In 1804 the Lewis and Clark
expedition tied boats at the Missouri River edge. Wandering
inland, they hunted buffalo where the town was later to be
located.
The
founder of Elk Point, the Honorable Eli B. Wixson, was born May 6, 1833 at
Wayne, Stueben County, New York. He came to Sioux City in 1865
and for a time was engaged in the daguerreotype business. He
came to Dakota in 1859, and settled at  the
present site of Elk Point. In the spring of that year, the water
almost completely covered this section of the country. From the
point of the northwest bluff of Sioux City, Wixson could see a large
body of water covering nearly all the land except the locality which
is now the town of Elk Point, which had remained above water.
This and its distance from Sioux City, were strong arguments in favor
of his locating here. He was the first white man to settle at
this location. His first house was built of logs and was 12x16
feet with a dirt floor and dirt roof. In this crude structure Mr. Wixson kept
hotel and grocery store at the same time. In 1862, a 20x30' log
hotel was built that contained not only hotel accommodations, but also
a post office and a station for stage coaches traveling between Sioux
City, Elk Point and Fort Randall.
It
is known that the town was surveyed in 1861 and incorporated in
1862. John R. Wood was president. On January 17, 1867, a
patent was issued to the city of Elk
Point with Eli B. Wixson as president, and signed by U.S. President,
Andrew Johnson. The town contained 105.63 acres of land.
The first mayor of the town, appointed in 1873, was H. H.
Blair.
Post
Office...By
a petition of only thirteen names, a Post Office was established in
Elk Point in 1860. Mr. Eli B. Wixson was named the first
postmaster. The mail was carried once a week each way by a four
mule team, from Fort Randall, Dakota Territory to Sioux City,
Iowa. There was no established mail route in Dakota. The
box rent at that time is reported to have been very low, all the
letters being kept in a cigar box. Mr. Wixson resigned in 1863
and the Honorable A.L. Edwards was appointed to the position.
Other early day postmasters were: C.M. Northup, Josiah Talcott and
James E. Blair. An item from the local paper in 1870 reported,
"We now have daily mail each way to Yankton (capitol of Dakota),
carried in the large, comfortable, four horse coaches of Hedges &
Company. We have a large, well arranged office with 117 letter
boxes."
Newspapers...Only
eleven years after the first settler arrived, a weekly newspaper was
published in Elk Point. The paper was called "The Elk Point
Leader" and Frank O. Wisner was the editor. The first issue
was dated March 17, 1870. In November of 1871, L.B. Redpath
started a paper called "The Union County Courier", but it
only ran for two weeks and was sold to the owners of the "Elk
Point Leader". A business directory of the town was to be
found on the front page of the early issues and then a story covered
the rest of the space. Later on it seemed politics took over
most of the paper. The inside always carried many large advertisements
and the local news.
The
Railroad...Elk
Point, not being a river town, was restricted to land transportation
of wagons drawn by either horses or oxen. After a spell of wet
weather, what roads there were, would be impossible for travel by any
means. In 1872, the nearest railroad was at Sioux City and thus
goods and building materials could be freighted no farther. To
the early settlers that was a great distance to haul these supplies so
vital to their existence.
On
January 24, 1872, a meeting was held to hear Judge W. W. Brooking,
president of the proposed Dakota Southern Railroad. He stated
that his company had already purchased 500,000 tons of iron for the
railroad and, in his opinion, trains would be running from Sioux City
to Yankton by January 1873. In order to insure that the railroad would
no miss them, the Judge proposed that Elk Point citizens raise $25,000
 and
donate a piece of land 150x300 feet for a depot. On August 28, 1872,
this item appeared in the local paper: "The railroad will be
finished to this point in a short time, the road was being graded and
the ties put in place--and we learn that the cars will run no farther
than Elk Point until Clay county votes on bonds as required by the
company." On October 23, "Mr. Sheafe, our lumber
merchant, has just received 25,000 feet of pine lumber, the first
freight passed over the new railroad." The Dakota Southern
was later absorbed by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific
Railroad.
Early
Schools...The
first school in Elk Point was built in 1861, its dimensions were about
fourteen by twenty feet, and was built of logs with a dirt roof.
This was also the first school in the county, and was taught by N. J.
Wallace. E. E. Collins became the first Union County Superintendent
of Schools in 1865 and organized the first public school
district. As Elk Point grew, the need for a larger school became
apparent.  The
realization of a new school house came to the town of Elk Point some
time in 1877. The following description was given by Mr. Fate:
"It was a two room frame building with a platform in the center
of the front end. The platform between the rooms extended from
the rear to within a few feet of the platform where folding doors took
its place. When these were folded back the platform commanded
both rooms. "The first annual commencement of the Elk Point High
School was held June 20, 1885. A class of four graduated,
consisting of Winnie Blair, Etta Davis Bert Wallace and Will
Wixson. Willie Wixson returned the following year as an
instructor.
An
eight room brick structure was erected in 1890; the high school
occupied only one room with the grade schools using the other
seven. Recitations in high school were held in the belfry, which
also served as a cloak room. In about 1902, a building was
purchased from the First Baptist Church for $300.00 and moved to the
school grounds, to be used for the primary grades. This 1890
building served the community until 1913.
County
Courthouse...Historically,
Elk Point has served as the County Seat since 1865. On April 10, 1862,
the first Legislative Assembly of the Dakota Territory provided for
the organization of the original county. The same Legislative
Assembly  passed
an Act naming the County Seat of Cole County "Victoria",
located on the claim of Joseph Chapillion, near McCook Lake. In
1864, when the county boundaries were rearranged, Richland was named
as County Seat. This site was voted unsatisfactory by the people
in 1865, and it was then fixed at Elk Point where it has remained.
The
first building was built in 1867, with improvements made to it in
1879. At this time the old building was moved to the center of
Court Square, raised on a brick basement, and two wings built, one to
the north and one to the south.  This
was to result in a structure 34x60 feet, called then "a real
ornament to the town."
This
structure stood until 1976 when it was deemed structurally unsafe, and
plans were made to replace it with a newer structure. Since the
building had historical significance, the National Park Service
dispatched a photographer to take detailed photographs, black and
white prints for a pictorial report to be retained by the Office of
Archeology and Historical Preservation in the Department of the
Interior at Washington, D.C. The new building was constructed on
approximately the same site occupied by the previous structure.
Ground breaking ceremonies were held March 29, 1977.
Construction of the new facility was completed May 9, 1978 and
officially accepted by the County Commissioners. Dedication of
the Union County Courthouse was held Saturday, October 7, 1978, being
the third courthouse constructed on the same site deeded to Union
County in 1867 by Elk Point's first citizen, Eli B. Wixson.
Source
Elk Point Quasquicentennial Book 1859-1984
A Century in Review,
Elk Point, South Dakota 1859-1959
Original
Midi Composition by Bruce DeBoer
Compositions are
copyright 1999 by Bruce DeBoer
"Kate's Tears." from Earth Tones
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