The National Parks Service, Register of Historic Places lists eight (8) places within Potter County, SD.

Archeological Site No. 39P0205 was entered on the the National Register of Historic Places on August 6, 1993. The following text is taken from the National Park Service nomination records.

Narrative Description (A picture would be better - but if you can visulize a word description.......)

Narrative Statement of Significance

Narrative Description

This site is a large, upright boulder on a rocky hillside overlooking a stream valley and farm and pasture land. The boulder is a granitic glacial erratic. A shallowly pecked hand and arm are carved into the slanted, west-facing surface near the top of the rock. The site is undisturbed.

Narrative Statement of Significance

Site 39P0205 is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D for its potential ability to yield information about prehistoric belief systems. This site is important as an example of a style of rock art scattered across eastern South Dakota that comprises pecked or ground hand and footprints. The site forms part of a cluster of rock art sites, at least three of which contain single handprints. This indicates a culturally significant pattern, the meaning of which is yet to be fully understood. Under the South Dakota historical preservation plan, the property relates to the context labeled: 1. Pre-Sioux Habitation.

BACK TO CONTENTS

Archeological Site No. 39PO63

D.H. & Leah Curran House

George Holland House

Canton Township was surveyed in August 1883. It is located on the eastern border, in the lower half of the state.

Present and Original Description

Narrative Statement of Significance

 Situated on the flat treeless prairie, the North Canton School in Potter County is a one-room, rectangular frame dwelling with a wood shingled gabled roof, a concrete chimney, and a vestibule (the cloakroom) off the east gable end (entrance side). Fenestration includes four large rectangular windows with surrounds on the south facade and two large rectangular windows with surrounds on the west facade.

 As one enters the building, the original coal bin (later used as a toliet) is located off to the left. A door leads to the classroom which displays a 12' ceiling and the original wainscotting and door and window surrounds. Beneath the linoleum covering is the original wood floor. An old heating furnace is still intact. However, the original slate chalkboard as classroom furniture has long been removed.

Narrative Statement of Significance

 Built in 1889 and used as an educational facility until 1972, the North Canton School in Potter County is significant in the area of education. This small, one room school retains most of its original architectural features and visually evokes the image of the quintessential county school on the South Dakota prairie.

 General William Henry Harrison Beadle was a leading figure in the early development of South Dakota's educational system. He was credited with being "the father of education in the two Dakotas, the man who saved the endowment and school lands Congress applied to many other states that have since been admitted into the union." By 1916, there were 5,041 one-teacher rural schools in South Dakota but due to declining population and consolidation with larger schools, this number dwindled to 80 by 1986. Hence, the North Canton School represents the one-room rural school that is a vanishing landmark in South Dakota.

 The North Canton School, like most of the rural schools constructed in South Dakota before 1915, was a one-room rectangular, gable-roofed building. This type of rural schoolhouse had developed out east around 1840 and was derived from nave-plan rectangular churches. the windows were located on only the south (four openings) and west (two openings) facades because of the belief that "cross-lighting" (-light coming from more than one direction-) was confusing and injurious to the eye. During the 1950's, the school was lifted and moved one-fourth of a turn to be placed on a new foundation. However, the school appears much as it did when it was built in 1889 - the year South Dakota became a state. Its frame siding, wood shingles, concrete chimney, frame window surrounds, and interior wainscotting are all intact.

 E.R. Davidson was the North Canton School's first teacher. Many teachers came and went, but for 83 years, the school served the educational needs of the area. Closed as a school in 1972, the building lay vacant until it was sold in 1983 to Maybelle Bottomley who attended the school for eight years and later taught in the building. She recently compiled a manuscript describing memories of the school through the eyes of former students and teachers like herself.

BACK TO CONTENTS

The Potter County Courthouse was entered on the the National Register of Historic Places on July 5, 1996. The following text is taken from the National Park Service nomination records.

Narrative Description (A picture would be better - but if you can visulize a word description.......)

Narrative Statement of Significance

Historic Narrative

 The Potter County Courthouse stands in the center of a platted city block in Gettysburg, South Dakota. The courthouse is located in a built-up residential neighborhood, just south of the community's main commercial district. The courthouse faces west; a tree-lined sidewalk leading from the west entrance to the street defines the property's landscaping. Additional tree and shrub plantings, a sidewalk, and a flagpole are also present on the lot. The northeast quadrant of the lot includes an unpaved parking lot for courthouse patrons.

 The courthouse building, while relatively utilitarian in appearance, includes architectural detailing reflective of the Second Renaissance Revival style, with Classical Revival influences. Such styling was popular for public buildings throughout the United States between about 1880 and 1920, and is seen in many South Dakota courthouses constructed during the period. The projecting entry bays, the full establature with projecting cornice, and the roof balustrade are all characteristic features of the style.

 The courthouse is three stories in height. All facades are symmetrical. The building's north and south elevations are largely identical, as are the east and west elevations. The exterior walls are not load-bearing, but hide a concrete structural skeleton.

 The first story of the courthouse serves visually as the podium upon which the upper two stories rest; it is faced with cut sandstone panels typically measuring 10 by 32 inches. There are eight courses of these panels, above a beveled stone "water table" course and beneath a beveled stone cap course. The upper stories of the building are clad with a reddish brown commercial brick, laid in a common bond pattern. Every sixth course of brick is recessed, resulting in a rusticated appearance. The brickwork is divided horizontally by continuous stone courses (cut in a cavetto molding) above both the second and third level window bands. There is an unadorned concrete cap above the topmost course of stonework.

 All four elevations of the building feature slightly projecting central bays, which help break the building's otherwise austere rectangular plan. On the east and west elevations, these bays are further defined by four full height pilasters, each with a sandstone base and Classically-decorated stone cap. Stone panels centered near the top of these bays display the incised lettering --1910--POTTER COUNTY--1910--. The building's entry doors are centered on the first level of the east and west bays. The doors are accessed by short runs of sandstone steps, between low sandstone balustrades. Light standards (now removed) once rested atop these balustrades on the west elevation only.

 A cornice constructed of formed metal surrounds the building on all four elevations, and expands to suggest a triangular pediment at each of the four projecting bays. Molded ornamental medallions decorate the corners of the east and west pediments.

 The building retains its historic fenestration pattern, but nearly all of the exterior door and window units are modern. Entry doors are paired aluminum units, with full-light glazing. While a few of the building's historic wood-framed double hung windows survive, nearly all of the windows are anodized metal, two-part sliding units. Most replacement windows occupy only the lower portion of their historic openings; the upper portions are infilled, althouth all of the original wood window casing appears to survive. Some of the windows on the north and south elevations are barred, indicating the presence of either an interior vault or a jail cell.

 The interior of the building retains a relatively high level of historic fabric. The building's interior is more  utilitarian than that of many South Dakota courthouses, but still conveys the perceived civic importance of the interior spaces. There is no rotunda or other monumental central space. The vestibuled main entrance opens to a landing on the building's stairwell, between the first and second floors. The stairway is a double-return design, and is constructed of metal with ornate iron railings and posts. Stairway landings and hallways on each level provide the only large public spaces in the building.

 Similar interior finishes and materials are evident on both the second and third levels of the courthouse. Walls and ceilings are plastered. Floors in hallways and other public areas are surfaced with 3/₄"white tile; black tiles placed in a repeating diamond pattern accentuate the floors, and the floor edges include black tiles in a simple labyrinth pattern. Interior doors are paneled wood with a half-light glazing, and are beneath transoms. Offices and other non-public spaces display similar detailing, although most office floors are carpetid and most of these rooms have modern suspended ceilings.

The top floor of the building includes a large courtroom and related office space. The courtroom retains some, but not all, of its original furniture and woodwork. A suspended ceiling and modern paint obscure one or more historic wall murals which originally decorated the courtroom space. Several county offices and a meeting room for county commissioners occupy the second floor. Office areas retain most of their original metal counters and work areas (countertops are Tennessee marble). Each of the four major office groups includes a seperate, fireproof vault room for records storage. These vaults, grouped at the center of the building' s north and south elevations, extend downward to the building's lower level.

 Metal circular stairways within each vault provide access to lower-level vault space.

 The bottom floor of the courthouse houses two jail cells, the sheriff's office, and the building's heating plant.(The jail, while historic, is apparently not original to the building; public meeting rooms once occupied part of this space.) The first level displays a relatively utilitarian appearance, with poured concrete floors and minimal interior detailing. The landing for the central stairway at this level is flanked by support columns displaying simple Corinthian capitals.

 The only other building on the courthouse grounds is a small modern shed used to store gardening equipment. The shed is just south of the courthouse building; it is wood framed, approximately 12' square, and is clad with T-111 wood siding. It has a gambrel roof surfaced with wood shingles and rests on a concrete pad. This building is a non-contributing resource, but its small size and unobtrusive placement minimize its impact on the site.

Narrative Statement of Significance:

 The Potter County Courthouse is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Critera "A" and "C". The building is historically significant for its role as the symbolic and functional seat of government for Potter County. Since the building's construction, it has housed virtually all of the county's administrative, operational, and judicial functions, while simultaneously serving as the official repository for county records. The courthouse is the most important single physical element in the historic and contempory governance of Potter County, and is a significant local visual reminder of the importance of county government.

 The Potter County Courthouse is architecturally significant as a representitve example of early twentieth-century public and institutional architecture in South Dakota. The building's utilization of Classical Revival design elements is typical of state courthouses constructed during the period. The building is visually representative of an early twentieth-century courthouse, and the facility is among the largest and most visually striking examples of architecture in Gettysburg and Potter County.

Historical Narrative:

 Potter County is located in north-central South Dakota, in a rural region of farms and small towns. In common with most of central South Dakota, the county saw only limited Euro-American habitation until the late nineteenth century, when the construction of railroad lines into the area spurred a great period of settlement into the region. Most of the counties new settlers claimed 160-acre tracts of the regions fertile prairie and established small grain farms. They enjoyed general success, and by the end of the century nearly all of the arable land in the county was devoted to agriculture. Several small communities developed during the period, serving as business and community centers for the farmers. Gettysburg quickly became the largest, due both its central location and its position on the county's primary railroad route.

Potter County was established by the Dakota territorial legislature in 1875; it was known as Ashmore County until 1877. In common with most of Dakota's newly-created counties during the period, Potter County was established well before the arrival of a significant number of Euro-American settlers, and the county remained an unorganized entity until 1883, when the first large influx of homesteaders to Potter County took place. The county's first meeting of it's new Board of Commissioners was held on December 27, 1883 in Forest City, a small town on the Missouri River west of Gettysburg. (The Forest City townsite is now beneath the waters fo Lake Oahe.)

 Following a pattern played out in several South Dakota counties, Potter County's first year was marked with a bitter dispute over the permanent location of the county seat. The county's first Commissioners temporarily gave the honor to Forest City, but a special election in 1884 saw Gettysburg chosen as the permanent county seat. When the Forest City partisans suggested vote fraud and refused to relenquish the official county records, a contingent of Gettysburg residents crept into Forest City for a dawn raid on the county offices. Their removal of the county papers to Gettysburg essentially settled the county seat dispute, and county officials soon began planning for the construction of a courthouse in Gettysburg.

 Potter County's first courthouse was constructed in 1888 on a donated lot on what is now the north edge of town. Robert B. Fisk, a prominent local resident, arranged for the construction of the building and apparently assisted financially in its completion. The finished courthouse was a two-story, wood-sided edifice; it was distinguished by a bell tower with a convex mansard roof centered on the front elevation. A combination of political and natural forces doomed the building to a relatively brief career, however. A windstorm i 1892 destroyed the building's tower, and the building was plagued with other structural problems. The building also proved too small for the rapidly-growing county. Of greater significance, though, was the fact that local political squabbles resulted in Gettysburg's original platted townsite (including the courthouse block) being largely foresaken by builders in favor of other platted lots further south. This left the courthouse in an unfavorable location away from most development. Consequently, by the early 1900s County Commissioners began making plans for a modern, replacement courthouse facility.

 The county's first major step towards building a new courthouse came in 1908, when voters approved the issuance of $50,000.00 in 5 percent bonds to buy a new courthouse site and construct a building. The following year, the county purchased a block of land in Gettysburg's residential neighborhood, just south of the commercial district, and planning for the new courthouse began in earnest. While deciding on the style and configuration of Potter County's new courthouse, county commissioners evaluated recently completed county buildings elsewhere in South Dakota. The men were apparently pleased by the appearance of the new Sanborn County courthouse in Woonsocket (1908), since in 1910 commissioners decided to construct a near replica of the Sanborn County building for Potter County's use. That May, J.P. Eisentraut, designer of the Sanborn County courthouse was hired by Potter County as the architect for its new building

  John Philip Eisentraut was an Iowa native who practiced architecture in South Dakota between 1909 and 1928. One of the state's most noted architects of the period, he prepared designs for a variety of major projects in South Dakota and surrounding states. Among his other South Dakota commissions were the Walworth County Courthouse , several commercial buildings in Hot Springs and Rapid City, and the Blue Bell Lodge in Custer State Park. Eisentraut worked under several partnerships and business entities throughout his career, living in Deadwood, Hot Springs, Rapid City, and Custer. He bagan the Potter County project while a principal in the firm "Black Hills Company" of Deadwood; by the time the project was finished, however, Eisentraut was affiliated with "The Fall River Company," an architectural firm in Hot Springs.

 County Commissioners began soliciting bids for the construction of the courthouse in June 1910, and opened the bids on August 4. The lowest of the three bids came from the firm Stolte & Mencier of Redfield, South Dakota, and they were awarded a $52,420.00 construction contract. Work on the building apparently began late in 1910, and continued throughout most of the following year. County records reveal few difficulties during the construction process, although midway through the undertaking Commissioneers decided that the Building's ceilings were too low, and authorized an additional expense to raise those on the top floor. Smaller contracts for electrical fixtures, furniture, and other items were awarded by the county during the summer and fall of 1911, and the courthouse was declared ready for occupancy that November. The first commission meeting in the new building was held on December 12, 1911.

 The building continues to service as Potter County's courthouse in 1995, over 80 years after its completion. Changes to the building during its existence have been relatively minor. The county's jail was moved into the courthouse basement at a relatively early date, after the small jail building just east of the courthouse was vacated. The county library was moved into the courthouse in 1924, and remained there until 1970. Finally, a modernization project during the early 1980s included the installation of new windows and lowered ceilings, and the sandblasting of the building's exterior.

BACK TO CONTENTS

St. Bernard's Catholic Church

Narrative Statement of Significance

Historic Narrative

Related stories

 The G.L. Stocker Blacksmith Shop is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places with local significance under Criteria "A" and "C." The building is historically significant for it's original role as Gettysburg's W.R.C. hall, a symbol of the importance of fraternal organizations in the social history of the community. During the years immediately following its construction, the hall served as an important center for civic, recreational, and charitable activities in Gettysburg. The building is also significant as an extremely well-preserved example of an early twentieth-century blacksmith shop. Businesses such as this were once found in all but the smallest American communities, and provided important services to local agriculture, transportation, and other businesses. Relatively few early blacksmith shop buildings remain, and fewer still retain the historic forges and other machinery that are present in the Stocker shop.

 The building is architecturally significant as a representative example of early twentyieth-century vernacular commercial architecture. The building's wood-framed construction, clapboard siding, and simple pedimented false front are all reflective of the form. Designs such as this saw very wide use in new or small western townsites. The style allowed for economy and speed of construction and did not require architectural drawings, but the false front helped convey the public nature of the building, and the pediment added a small touch of prominence.

Historical Narrative:

 This building was constructed during the summer of 1901 by the Gettysburg chapter of the Women's Relief Corps (W.R.C.). Nationally, the W.R.C. functioned as a women's auxiliary organization to the Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.), a patriotic and fraternal organization for men who had been veterans of the Civil War. Meade Post No. 32 of the G.A.R. was established in Gettysburg in 1883, by some of the Civil War veterans who had initally settled in the community. As with other G.A.R. chapters, the Gettysburg unit undertook a variety of charitable and civic functions, and sponsored the town's annual Fourth of July celebration. The W.R.C. organization existed alongside the G.A.R. unit, and busied itself with a variety of local welfare projects, as well as programs intended to aid those in the country's armed forces.

 The first published mention of Gettysburg's planned W.R.C. hall came in the May 2, 1901 issue of the Gettysburg Herald, which published the following notice:

The local W.R.C. have been thteatening for several years to build a Grand Army hall in town and have in the meantime have been gathering up funds in various ways for the           purpose. They have owned a suitable site for some time, and it is now stated that Samuel Smith will begin the foundation work for the building proper next Monday, which is to be a one-story structure 32 - 48 feet fronting on Main Street south of Commercial Avenue. The foundation stone has been brought in by rail from near Forest City.

 A similar notice in the newspaper's May 16 issue noted that construction work on the building had begun the previous day, under the supervision of Arthur Hurley. By the end of the month, the building was fully enclosed and near completion. Within a few weeks, the W.R.C. and others had begun using the hall regularly for social and civic functions. On selected Saturday afternoons and evenings, for example, the W.R.C. served ice cream and cake to the public in the hall. The building was also used for basketball games and as a movie theater. A small exterior vestibule containing a projection booth was constructed near the building's fron door to simplify the showing of movies.

 Use of the W.R.C. hall began to lessen within a few years, due in part to the decline in the G.A.R. and W.R.C. organizations themselves. Simultaneously, other construction projects in Gettysburg created venues for many of the events formally held at the W.R.C. hall. A 1917 fire insurance map of downtown Gettysburg listed the hall as "vacant." The W.R.C. finally decided to sell the hall, and in 1920 the building was purchased by George LeRoy Stocker for $1,800.00. Stocker, known locally as "Lee," was an Iowa native who settled in Gettysburg in 1907 and opened a blacksmith shop. He immediately relocated his business to the old W.R.C. building, adding a forge and a variety of shop tools and installing a new entry door wide enough to accomodate wagons and sleighs.

 With only very brief interuptions, Stocker continued to operate the shop until very shortly before his death at age 97 in 1970. In addition to blacksmithing, Stocker did welding, metalwork and wood work for area farmers. He also repaired wagon wheels and later did automotive work. The nature of his business evolved somewhat over the years, responding to the arrival of the automobile and other changes in technology, but the appearance of the shop remained largely  unchanged. Electricity was installed to power the line shaft for machinery and to replace the hand operated bellows on the forge, but the original forge and most of the other equipment remained in use throughout Stocker's long career. Many of the tools used in the shop were made by Stocker himself. The long record made Stocker something of a local celebrity, but on his 85th birthday he simply told the Potter County News "I wouldn't amount to anything sitting around doing nothing."

 After Lee Stocker's death, the shop was permanently closed and ownership of the building passed to his son Worth. Worth used the old shop primarily for storage. In 1993, he donated the building to the City of Gettysburg, which plans to maintain the old blacksmith shop as a museum.

BACK TO CONTENTS