Every state claims that their small towns are the most charming and beautiful, but South Dakotans know the real truth: OURS are, in fact, the best of them all! While we could spend all day naming all of the towns and why they are unique, we will focus our attention on Yankton, which was recently named the most beautiful town in South Dakota by a national publication:

Incorporated in 1869, Yankton was the first capital of the Dakota Territory and is now called the "Mother City of the Dakotas."
Flickr/Jimmy Emerson, DVM
Home to nearly 15,000 residents, there is plenty to see and do around Yankton, including several museums and cultural centers, dining and shopping, and ample outdoor recreation opportunities.
National Park Service/Wikimedia Commons
Because of all of this (and more), Yankton was recently named one of the 50 of the Most Charming Small Towns in America by Travel Channel, which included such other communities as Eureka Springs, Arkansas, New Castle, Delaware, and Lindsborg, Kansas. 
Flickr/Nathan Kull

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While there is a lot to love about Yankton, Travel Channel highlights its history ("Settlers moving West often stopped along the Missouri River at what is now Yankton, South Dakota, and riverboat captains once built their large Victorian homes there,") as well as the aforementioned outdoor recreational opportunities. 
Flickr/Overduebook
When you visit Yankton, make plans to spend at least a weekend so you can check out such attractions and landmarks as the Yankton Archery Center, Mount Marty College, and the town's 26 individual properties and 6 historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places.
Flickr/Ali Eminov
To learn more about Yankton and everything there is to see and do, please visit the Yankton Convention and Visitors Bureau's website.
Flickr/Ali Eminov

Do you have a favorite place in SoDak that you would like to see featured on Only in South Dakota? Nominate it here! Need even more reasons to love Yankton? Check out The One South Dakota Town That’s So Perfectly Midwestern.

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Yankton, SD 57078, USA