A map display in the Education Room of the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre highlights various examples of maps held in the collections of the South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives.

The 11 framed map copies are a selection from almost 700 maps recently added online to the South Dakota Digital Archives.

The State Historical Society-Archives received grant funding from the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission to digitize and catalog various maps in the State Archives collections. The maps are primarily of Dakota Territory, but some date from when South Dakota became a state in 1889 up to general highway maps from the 1960s.

A few map titles found in the Education Room display include: Hydrographical Basin of the Upper Mississippi (1843), Minnesota and Dakotah (1860), Geological Map of the Black Hills (1876), Aberdeen, Dakota Territory (1888), Map of Sioux Indian Reservation Showing the Diminished Reservations and Ceded Lands (1890), and Good Roads Everywhere (1916).      

“The digitized maps add to the growing online database of historical content available at the South Dakota Digital Archives, including land survey records, manuscripts, government records, and more than 68,000 photographs,” said Chelle Somsen, state archivist.

Visit the State Archives website at history.sd.gov/archives and click the “Digital Collections” link for more information. Public access to the free map display in the Education Room may be limited by meetings or events previously scheduled. Call ahead at 605-773-3458 to access the display. 

Possible photo caption: Three of the 11 map copies on display in the Education Room of the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. (Photo courtesy South Dakota State Historical Society-Archives) 

About the South Dakota State Historical Society
The South Dakota State Historical Society is a division of the Department of Education. The State Historical Society, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, is headquartered at the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre. The center houses the society’s world-class museum, the archives, and the historic preservation, publishing and administrative/development offices. Call 605-773-3458 or visit www.history.sd.gov for more information. The society also has an archaeology office in Rapid City; call 605-394-1936 for more information.