Aurora

Formed October 1, 1879 (45^th county)

Aurora County (2,746), Plankinton (776)

The 1940 masonry Art Deco courthouse is located on Main and 4^th streets.  The courthouse is two miles north of Interstate Highway 90.  Floyd F. Kings and Walter J. Dixon are the architects.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  There was an 1884 courthouse earlier in Plankinton, the only county seat.  Aurora County was organized on October 1, 1879 as the 45^th county.  It is named for the Roman Goddess of the Dawn.  The county seat was named for settler John Plankinton. 

Aurora County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Six Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Aurora, Bon Homme, Brule, Buffalo, Charles Mix, Clay, Davison, Douglas, Hanson, Hutchinson, McCook, Turner, Union and Yankton counties.  Aurora County is in southeast South Dakota.  Sioux Falls, South Dakota is northeast and Pierre, South Dakota is northwest of the county.  The county center is 5.3 miles West-Southwest of Plankinton.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Jerauld, Sanborn, Davison, Douglas, Charles Mix, and Brule counties. 

The area of the county is 708 square miles.  It is 45 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 51 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 3.9 persons per square mile making it 44 out of 66 in the state.  Aurora County has 54.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 90 crosses the county from east to west from Davison County to Brule County.  United States Highway 281 enters from the north, Jerauld County, and exits to the south, Douglas County.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Plankinton is in the eastern third of the county.  Plankinton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 28.3% of the county population.