Custer

Formed January 11, 1875 (39^th county)

Custer County (8,319), Custer (1,921)

The Modern tan brick and stucco building was constructed in 2011.  There were 1881 and 1973 courthouses also in Custer.  The facility is on Washington Street and 4^th Street.  United States Highway 16 is one block north of the site.  Gene Fennel and Tanya Davis are the architects.  A miner’s pick, ax and pan sit in front of the courthouse and the city has painted bison throughout.  Hayward was the county seat until 1879 when Custer became the seat.  Custer County was created on January 11, 1875 as the 39^th county.  The county and its county seat are named for General George Armstrong Custer. 

Custer County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Eight Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Custer, Fall River, Oglala Lakota, and Pennington counties.  Custer County is on the southwest border with Wyoming.  Rapid City, South Dakota is directly north and Pierre, South Dakota is northeast of the county.  The county center is 14.5 miles Southeast of Custer nearer Pringle.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Pennington, Shannon, and Fall River counties and Wyoming.  

The area of the county is 1558 square miles.  It is 16 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 22 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 5.3 persons per square mile making it 33 out of 66 in the state.  Custer County has 31.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 16 enters the county from the north, Pennington County, and exits to the west, Wyoming.  United States Highway 385 is joined with United States Highway 16 from Pennington County, splits and continues south into Fall River County.  The county is shaped like a rectangle with an added knife point on the northeast.  The City of Custer is located in the northern quarter of the county.  Custer is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 23.1% of the county population.