Faulk local history

A Brief History of Faulk County

Faulk County was named for Andrew J. Faulk, the third governor of Dakota Territory. Faulk was born in Pennsylvania in 1814. He was offered the appointment by President Lincoln, but he declined. He later accepted the appointment. He became a lawyer in 1866 and was an Indian trader in Yankton as early as 1861. He was mayor of Yankton, clerk of the Territorial and Federal Courts and President of the Dakota Bar Associatgion. He died in Yankton in 1898.

 Although Faulk County was created in 1873 by the Dakota Territorial Legislature, it was not organized until 1883. Hiram Rose was believed to have been the first Euro-American to settle in the county. He built a shanty on the shore of Scatterwood Lake in the fall of 1881, he never filed on the land, so he may have been a fur trader.

 Many small towns were located along the the Chicago & Northwestern and Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Pual and the Minneapolis & St. Louis rail lines. These incuded Carlyle (still has bank vault standing on the prairie), DeVoe (church and cemetery, Millard (trees and cemetery), Myron (cemetery), LaFoon (roadside marker for being first Faulk County Seat). Other small towns were Wesley, Roanoike, Scatterwood, Newton, Ellisville, Dunsmore, Orleans, Burkmere, Norbeck and Harrington. Newton became Orient which still has a post office along with Miranda, Seneca, Rockham, Zell, Chelsea, Cresbard, Wecota and Onaka as well as Faulkton, the present couty seat.

 There is an active Faulk County Historical Society, there main project has been the restoration of the Pickler Mansion on the south edge of Faulkton (see photo on next page.) They are also restoring the Maloney School near the Pickler Mansion. The Levi and Della Roberts Museum is located on Highway 212. Contact Jody Moritz at Box 68 for more information about the Historical Society or the Pickler Mansion. The courthouse courtroom contains murials by Charles T. Greener and are worth a visit.

 

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