Most People Don’t Know The Meaning Behind These 13 South Dakota Towns

There are plenty of towns out there with names that will make you scratch your head in wonder. Such is the case with the following 13 weird town names in South Dakota. The towns' names are nothing short of unusual, but many of them do have an origin. By looking into the history of the towns, you can learn why they have the name they do and where it came from. So, to find out about each of these towns, let's take a look at the information below.

1. Peever

This little town in the very top right corner of South Dakota was founded in 1898. The name, though unusual, did not come from an unusual way. Like many early settlements, it was named after one of its earliest residents - F. H. Peever.

2. Box Elder

The obvious origin of Box Elder would be that it was named after box elder trees, but it's actually named after the nearby creek, Boxelder Creek. Boxelder Creek was named after box elder trees. Luckily, neither are related to the similarly named boxelder bugs.

3. Waubay

This town name is a fun one to say out loud, but that's beside the point. The name Waubay comes from the Lakota Sioux language. It means "a place where numbers of birds make their nest." It's very true to its name. A national wildlife refuge is located here that's home to more than 100 species of birds, mostly waterfowl.

4. Blunt

Let me be blunt with you here, I'm awful at puns. And Blunt is, too. It was named after the railroad official John E. Blunt, which was very common during the settling of the Dakota Territory back in the late 1800s. Many towns were only created as the railroad went through and were named after members of the railroad as a result.

5. Highmore

To follow up Blunt, Highmore was named simply for its high elevation of 1,886 feet. Its town motto is "A Great Place To Live, Work, And Play."

6. Kadoka

As the sign states, Kadoka is the gateway to the badlands. The origin of the name would say slightly different, as Kadoka means "hole in the wall" in Lakota.

7. Hooker

Hooker is almost a ghost town in Turner County. The post office closed in 1954, and now the town is nearly empty. The name came from a settler, John Hooker, and nothing else.

8. Bonesteel

Though Bonesteel sounds like a pretty tough name at first, the town is actually very pleasant. The name didn't come from any sort of scary legend or person. It simply came from the name of a man who worked as a freight forwarder in that county.

9. Pukwana

Pukwana is home to 285 residents and the "Puk U" bar. It was actually originally named Carlton. The name Pukwana can mean the smoke of a peace-pipe, or a signal or beacon.

10. Volin

Volin, South Dakota was not named after any sort of instrument, and if it was, whoever named it would have made a serious typo. The town was named after Henry P. Volin, a man who owned land in the area, in 1887.

11. Athol

The name of this town has quite the history, actually. Athol wasn't Athol at all at first. It was Myrtle City, named after the first settler child born there, but when the railroad came through, it was changed to what it is today. It was based off of a city in Massachusetts named Athol.

12. Johnson Siding

This town is more of a roadside stop and a popular resting spot for bikers during the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. While it sounds like the name of some house siding company (I'm pretty sure I've heard a radio jingle at some time in my life for some sort of Johnson Siding), it's actually named after a siding along a railroad track near Rapid Creek.

13. Akaska

While this looks like a typo of Alaska (which would be very easy to make considering the keyboard layout), the true meaning is "uncertain" in the Sioux language. Only 42 people live here and the railway service stopped going to Akaska in 1940.

Did you already know about the origins of any of these 13 town names? If so, please let us know in the comments below. Some of these 13 towns are very remote and not many people even know they exist, much like these rural South Dakota towns.