Codington

Formed January 1, 1877 (44^th county)

Codington County (28,323), Watertown (22,656)                

A masonry Neo-Classical and Renaissance building is in Watertown.  This 1929 courthouse replaced the 1883 version.  The courthouse is on 1^st Avenue, Broadway, 2^nd Avenue, and 1^st Street.  United States Highway 81 passes four blocks east.  Freed and Perkins & McWayne combined on the designs.  Veterans memorials are on the grounds.  Codington County was formed on January 1, 1877 as the 44^th county.  Kampeska was the first county seat followed by Watertown in 1878.  Codington County was the birthplace of 1 South Dakota Governor, Kristi L. Noem. 

Codington County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Five Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Codington, Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lake, Miner, Moody, and Sanborn counties.  Codington County is in the eastern part of South Dakota.  Sioux Falls, South Dakota is south and Pierre, South Dakota is southwest of the county.  Codington County is the birthplace of 1 South Dakota governor, Kristi L. Noem.  The county center is 9.7 miles Northwest of Watertown nearer Florence.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Grant, Deuel, Hamlin, Clark, and Day counties.  It is named for Reverend G. S. Codington.  The county seat is named for Watertown, New York. 

The area of the county is 688 square miles.  It is 47 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 7 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 41.2 persons per square mile making it 6 out of 66 in the state.  Codington County has 83.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Highway 29 crosses the county from north to south from Grant County to Hamlin County.  United States Highway 81 is joined with Interstate Highway 29 from Grant County, splits and continues south into Hamlin County.  United States Highway 212 enters from the east, Deuel County, and exits to the west, Clark County.  The county is an overall rectangle.  Watertown is in the southeast quarter of the county.  Watertown is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 80.0% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOD-ING-TON.  This county is in the Watertown Micropolitan Statistical Area.