Corson

Formed January 1, 1909 (60^th county)

Corson County (3,901), McIntosh (113), McLaughlin (566)

The 2008 tan and gray masonry Modern courthouse replaced the 1910 wooden courthouse which burned.  The courthouse is on 1^st Street at 1^st Avenue.  United States Highway 12 is five blocks north of the location.  Hulsing & Associates are the architects.  The county was organized on January 1, 1909 as the 60^th county with McIntosh as the only county seat.  It is named for settler Dighton Corson.  McIntosh is named for railroad construction company, McIntosh Construction. 

Corson County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Four Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Corson, Butte, Dewey, Harding, Lawrence, Meade, Perkins, and Ziebach counties.  The county is located on the northern border with North Dakota.  The Missouri River forms its eastern border.  Pierre, South Dakota is southeast and Rapid City, South Dakota is southwest of the county.  The county center is 22.4 miles Southeast of McIntosh nearer Bullhead.  The county is surrounded clockwise by North Dakota and Campbell, Walworth, Dewey, Ziebach, and Perkins counties. 

The area of the county is 2473 square miles.  It is 5 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 41 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1.6 persons per square mile making it 57 out of 66 in the state.  Corson County has 18.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 12 travels east to west through the county from Walworth County to Perkins County.  The county is a rectangle with a man’s face on the eastern side.  McIntosh is located on the northern border.  McLaughlin is in the northeast quarter of the county.  McIntosh is the county seat and McLaughlin is the largest city.  McIntosh is 2.9% of the county population while McLaughlin is 14.5% of the county population.  The county is pronounced KOER-SON.  The county seat is pronounced MAK-IN-TOSH.  The largest city is pronounced MAK-LA-FLIN.