Lincoln

Formed December 30, 1867 (12^th county)

Lincoln County (65,165), Canton (3,072), Harrisburg (6,738)

The excellent stone and concrete Romanesque Revival towered structure was constructed in 1890.  It is located on a square at 5^th, Main, 4^th, and Broadway streets.  Fifth Street is United States Highway 18.  Wallace L. Dow provided the designs.  It was enlarged in 1900.  A County Administration Building was built in 2008.  The grounds have a canon.  Lincoln County was formed on December 30, 1867 as the 12^th county with Canton as the only county seat.  The county is named for United States President Abraham Lincoln.  The county seat is named for Canton, China.  Lincoln County is the birthplace of 1 South Dakota governor, Archie M. Gubbrud. 

Lincoln County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Ten Circuit Court Judges and Three Magistrate Court Judges serve Lincoln and Minnehaha counties.  The county is in the southeast part of the state on the border with Iowa.  Sioux Falls, South Dakota is directly north and Pierre, South Dakota is northwest of the county.  The county center is 10.4 miles West of Canton nearer Worthing.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Minnehaha County and Iowa and Union, Clay, and Turner counties. 

The area of the county is 578 square miles.  It is 51 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 3 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 112.7 persons per square mile making it 2 out of 66 in the state.  Lincoln County has 85.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 29 passes north to south from Minnehaha County to Union County.  United States Highway 18 enters from Iowa, east, and exits to Turner County, west.  The county looks like a fat capital letter C.  Canton is located on the eastern border of the county.  Harrisburg is in the northern quarter of the county.  Canton is the county seat and Harrisburg is the largest city.  Canton is 4.7% of the county population while Harrisburg is 10.3% of the county population.  This county is in the Sioux Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area.