Kingsbury County is a county in South Dakota, United States, on the rolling prairie of the Coteau des Prairies pothole region. It had a population of 5,187 at the 2020 census and covers 864 square miles (2,240 km2), of which 832 square miles are land, centred near 44°22′N 97°29′W.
De Smet is the county seat, and its postal code is 57231. The county holds five incorporated cities, four incorporated towns, two unincorporated communities and one ghost town, spread across 13 civil townships. Kingsbury County sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Kingsbury County
Kingsbury County has eleven named cities and towns plus a handful of smaller unincorporated places. “City” and “Town” are the state’s two classes of incorporated municipality; “Unincorp.” places have no municipal government of their own. Arlington and Iroquois both straddle the county line, with only part of each town inside Kingsbury.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| De Smet | City · seat | De Smet | — | 57231 |
| Arlington | City | — | — | 57212 |
| Iroquois | City | Iroquois | — | 57353 |
| Lake Preston | City | — | — | 57249 |
| Oldham | City | — | — | 57051 |
| Badger | Town | Badger | — | 57214 |
| Bancroft | Town | — | — | — |
| Erwin | Town | — | — | 57233 |
| Hetland | Town | — | — | — |
| Esmond | Unincorp. | Esmond | — | — |
| Osceola | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Spring Lake Colony | Unincorp. | Spring Lake | — | — |
| Manchester | Unincorp. · ghost town | Manchester | — | — |
Manchester was struck by an F4 tornado in June 2003 and was never rebuilt; the site is marked but no longer inhabited. Spring Lake Colony is a Hutterite farming colony rather than a platted town, so it has no ZIP code or incorporated status of its own.
Townships
Kingsbury County is divided into 13 civil townships. Verified population figures for individual townships were not available for this profile; the table below lists each by its principal settlement, where one exists.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| De Smet | — | De Smet |
| Iroquois | — | Iroquois (part) |
| Badger | — | Badger |
| Esmond | — | Esmond |
| Manchester | — | Manchester (ghost town) |
| Spring Lake | — | Spring Lake Colony |
| Baker | — | rural |
| Denver | — | rural |
| Hartland | — | rural |
| Le Sueur | — | rural |
| Mathews | — | rural |
| Spirit Lake | — | rural |
| Whitewood | — | rural |
ZIP Codes
- 57231 — De Smet
- 57212 — Arlington (also serves the Kingsbury side of town)
- 57249 — Lake Preston
- 57353 — Iroquois (also serves the Kingsbury side of town)
- 57233 — Erwin
- 57051 — Oldham
- 57214 — Badger (PO Box delivery only)
Bancroft, Hetland, Esmond, Osceola and Spring Lake Colony have no post office of their own and are served by ZIP codes in neighboring towns.
Geography
Kingsbury County lies on the Coteau des Prairies, a glacially formed highland of low, rolling hills dotted with hundreds of small lakes and wetlands in its central and eastern reaches. Most of the land drains toward the southwest, and much of the county’s farmland is devoted to row crops on the flatter western stretches, with pasture and hay ground closer to the lake country. The county’s highest point, at 1,857 feet (566 m) above sea level, sits near the middle of the eastern boundary.
Kingsbury County borders Hamlin County to the northeast, Brookings County to the east, Lake County to the southeast, Miner County to the south, Sanborn County to the southwest, Beadle County to the west, and Clark County to the northwest.
Demographics
Kingsbury County had 5,187 residents at the 2020 census, working out to roughly 6.2 people per square mile of land. De Smet and Lake Preston are the county’s two largest communities. Individual place-level and county-level median household income figures were not independently verified for this profile; statewide, South Dakota’s median household income was $71,810 (2023 ACS), a useful benchmark since predominantly rural, agricultural counties in the state typically run below it.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture, mainly corn, soybeans and wheat, along with cattle ranching, anchors the county’s economy, as it has since the county’s earliest settlement. Grain elevators and farm-supply businesses cluster in De Smet, Lake Preston and Arlington. De Smet is also a tourism draw as the childhood home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose Little House books, including The Long Winter and Little Town on the Prairie, are set there; the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Homes and the annual outdoor pageant based on her books bring visitors to town each summer.
History
Kingsbury County was created by the Dakota Territory legislature in 1873 and organized on December 13, 1879, after the Chicago & North Western Railway extended a line through De Smet that same year, touching off a wave of settlement. The county is named for brothers George W. and T. A. Kingsbury, descendants of an English Kingsbury family who had settled in the Boston, Massachusetts area; both brothers were prominent figures in Dakota Territory politics and served in several territorial legislatures. The Ingalls family, including a young Laura Ingalls, arrived in De Smet in 1879 as the town was being platted, and De Smet’s frontier years are the setting for several of her best-known books.
Getting There
U.S. Highway 14 crosses the county through De Smet and Lake Preston, and U.S. Highway 81 runs north–south through Arlington on the county’s east side; South Dakota Highway 25 links De Smet to the county’s northern townships.
- Brookings, South Dakota — about 30 miles east
- Watertown, South Dakota — about 40 miles north
- Huron, South Dakota — about 35 miles west
- Sioux Falls, South Dakota — about 75 miles southeast
The nearest commercial air service is Joe Foss Field in Sioux Falls; Brookings Regional Airport, closer but with limited scheduled service, also serves the area.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Kingsbury County, South Dakota?
It sits in east-central South Dakota, on the Coteau des Prairies between Brookings and Huron, roughly 75 miles northwest of Sioux Falls.
What is the population of Kingsbury County?
5,187 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Kingsbury County?
864 square miles (2,240 km2), of which 832 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Kingsbury County?
De Smet is the county seat.
How many towns are in Kingsbury County?
Five cities and four towns are incorporated, plus two unincorporated communities and the former town site of Manchester.
What ZIP codes are in Kingsbury County?
57231 (De Smet), 57212 (Arlington), 57249 (Lake Preston), 57353 (Iroquois), 57233 (Erwin), 57051 (Oldham) and 57214 (Badger).
Why is De Smet, South Dakota famous?
It’s the childhood home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder, the setting for several of her Little House novels.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in South Dakota.