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Vermillion and vicinity - RD12124 - USD - Richardson Collection - Digital Library of South Dakota (DLSD) In late March to early April of 1881, catastrophe struck Vermillion, Dakota Territory then located on a peninsula between the Vermillion and Missouri Rivers. Large ice floes and heavy snow melts destroyed three-quarters of the city. In addition, the flood caused the Missouri River and Vermillion River to change their courses dramatically. Vermillion was no longer a river t

For a time prospects for a park and artificial lake under a W.P.A. grant generated much interest in the southern part of the county. The idea first emerged in 1933 as a modest project involving a grant of $8,000 for work-relief purposes. During the following year the concept grew in proportion to culminate in a […]

William Lyon was born and grew up in Vermillion, SD. His widow Winona Lyon donated the land containing the beautiful palisades to the state of South Dakota. Additional land will be added to the park during the summer of 2024, doubling the size of the park. Palisades State Park is one of the most unique […]

We found a self-recorded 78 phonograph dated 1949 in our USD Phonograph collection. It was in Modern Electric Co.’s. bag. Did Modern Electric or the University of South Dakota have the equipment needed to record onto a blank phonograph?

Caption on photograph is “Ben shooting the V.R. [Vermillion River] rapids. Image from University of South Dakota Photograph Collection and Digital Library of South Dakota. Identifier PO5878.

Southern Dakota was one of the first railroads in Dakota Territory, and the first to successfully operate in the area that would become the state of South Dakota. The tracks began in Sioux City in 1872 and reached Vermillion, Dakota Territory at the end of that year. In 1873, the tracks were completed to Yankton, Dakota […]

Do you see the park’s baseball field and the swimming pool on the postcard above? Vermillion is collecting stories about the park for the celebration. We will happily forward any stories you send to us to the committee collecting the stories. Help us assign a date to this postcard. We know it is after 1936 […]

The Archives and Special Collections received 31 boxes of rolled architectural drawings, floor plans, and blueprints of buildings in Vermillion SD and the University of South Dakota. We are in the process of flattening and inventorying this gift. Projects date from 1920s to 2000s. Some of the projects are the Clay County Courthouse, Vermillion public […]

Historian Everett Sterling wrote in Vermillion Story (1959) that there was “a 1910 map preserved in the City Building, on which every residence is shown and identified …” Does anyone know where the map is now? Sterling’s Vermillion Story is in the Chilson Collection. Other histories about Vermillion and Clay County SD are listed on […]

During the 1940s to the 1960s, Vermillion hosted a vibrant set of concerts sponsored by the Vermillion Community Artists’ Series. The following description is from one of its programs: “The annual concert program was inaugurated in 1947 when Arthur H. Whittemore and Jack Lowe, duo-pianists, presented a concert to establish the A. H. Whittemore Memorial […]