U.S. Post Offices: Yankton, South Dakota

Yankton is a community and the County Seat of Yankton County, South Dakota and is located on US Highway 81.

The following article was furnished courtesy of South Dakota Magazine. The story speaks to Yankton’s Historic past and touches on today.

Yankton may be South Dakota’s most historic town, but the river that created it is timeless. By Jennifer L. Nielson

Life in Yankton has always revolved around the Missouri River. Native Americans followed the river’s flow to their destinations centuries ago. They named the land “E-Hank-Ton-Wan” meaning “people of the end village.”

Without the Missouri, Yankton might not exist. The river brought steamboats and their captains to Yankton. Steamboats brought not only color and expansion to the budding town; they also brought technology and skilled people.
When Dakota Southern Railway arrived in 1873, river traffic waned. But the final blow to the steamboat industry was the Great Flood of 1881. A huge ice jam burst, and consequent floods sunk some boats and damaged others beyond repair. The remains of several still lie at the bottom of the river; one is visible from the Meridian Bridge when water is low.
As Yankton approached its 100th birthday in 1957, it was designated an “All-American City,” a title it still holds. The honor recognized a century of building the good life in the river city –– and perhaps sweeping the bad into dark corners. “Civility pervaded in the town,” stone mason and local historian Bob Hanson said. “Anything that was un-nice was kept under wraps…. It was made to show the best of everything. No obituaries were published in the paper. Everyone acted in an Eastern civil manner.”

According to Jeff Koster at the Walnut Tavern downtown, it is rumored that an early ordinance confined women to the south side of Third Street, whereas men walked only on the north. That’s why all the bars are on the north side of Third to this day, he claims. But not to worry, both sexes can now happily stroll on whichever side they please.

Pierre Dorian was the first white settler in Yankton. He met the Lewis and Clark expedition in St. Charles, Mo., Hanson said, and accompanied them to Yankton. Hanson led the push to erect a marker near Dorian’s gravesite on the bluff west of downtown, a sloping hill that was once an Indian burial ground, later a quarry, and now a residential street. A plaque remembering “Old Dorian,” as he was known, is affixed to a boulder Hanson brought from the river shore.

The All American City certainly has had some All-American characters. People who have made their mark on history have also left footprints in Yankton. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark explored the area in 1804 and 1806. Jack McCall, the man who shot Wild Bill Hickok, was hanged and buried here. The Culligan Man of soft-water fame, Emmett J. Culligan, was born here in 1839. Professional football player Lyle Alzado attended Yankton College, and NBC anchorman Tom Brokaw graduated from Yankton High School. Lawrence Welk’s climb to national recognition was boosted by live performances on WNAX radio. Wynn Speece, the “Neighbor Lady,” is one of the longest-running radio broadcasters in the nation.
Aside from its celebrities, Yankton is rich in history, a city of firsts. It was the first capital of Dakota Territory, which in the 1860s included both Dakotas, Wyoming and Montana. The first high school and the first college in Dakota Territory brought education and higher learning to the area, and the first drive-in movie theater in South Dakota entertained audiences for years.

The city also has a rich media history. The Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan is the longest-running daily newspaper in the four states of the region. The Freie Presse, a German language paper published here for 80 years –– until WWII –– was one of the highest-circulating weekly papers of its day. Regional legend, WNAX radio, began broadcasting in 1922. Even South Dakota Magazine was founded in Yankton, where for 19 years it has been published in Territorial Gov. John Pennington’s home on main street.
Both the river and the town have changed dramatically over time. The construction half a century ago of five dams, including Gavin’s Point Dam west of town, hobbled the Missouri that Pierre Dorian knew. “The modern Missouri bears no resemblance to the old Missouri before the dam was put in,” Hanson said. The water used to be “the color of strong coffee with a little bit of milk –– full of silt. The river had a sort of magical quality –– it looked like a stream of mercury.” As a child, the river was Hanson’s favorite playground. “When the wind would hit the water just right it produced a dirty colored foam,” he laughed. “The foam would dry into a crust, and you could float on it.”
The dams altered the very nature of life in and along the Missouri. Navigation was terminated, and miles of rich farm land and wildlife habitat were inundated, endangering the entire ecosystem the Missouri fed. The dams also controlled flooding, generated electricity and created vast recreational opportunities. About 1.5 million people visited Yankton this year to camp, boat, swim and fish at Lewis and Clark Lake, generating millions of dollars in revenue for the Yankton area. Not everyone is confident that the changes in the river are for the better. “Whether that is a good or bad thing, I don’t know,” said Hanson. “The river doesn’t seem alive anymore. Before the dam everyone talked about the river, had an eye on the river.”