McPherson

Formed January 8, 1873 (30^th county)

McPherson County (2,409), Leola (436), Eureka (807)

A Classical Revival facility, the 1927 brown brick built is on a square at Main, Broadway, Grant, and Sherman streets.  Main Street is South Dakota State Highway 10 in the town.  Veterans memorials are on the grounds.  There was an 1884 version earlier in Leola, the only county seat.  Buechner and Orth were the architects of the current facility.  The county was organized on January 8, 1873 as the 30^th county.  McPherson County is named for Civil War General James B. McPherson.  The county seat is named for Leola Haynes, daughter of a settler. 

McPherson County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Four Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve McPherson, Brown, Campbell, Day, Edmunds, Faulk, Marshall, Roberts, Spink, and Walworth counties.  McPherson County is on the northern border with North Dakota.  Pierre, South Dakota is southwest and Sioux Falls, South Dakota is southeast of the county.  The county center is 17.7 miles West-Northwest of Leola nearer Long Lake.  The county is surrounded clockwise by North Dakota and Brown, Edmunds, Walworth, and Campbell counties. 

The area of the county is 1137 square miles.  It is 25 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 54 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 2.1 persons per square mile making it 54 out of 66 in the state.  McPherson County has 53.4% of its population in its incorporated areas.  There are no Interstates or United States Highways in the county.  The county is a rectangle.  Leola is located in the southeast quarter of the county.  Eureka is near the western border of the county.  Leola is the county seat and Eureka is the largest city.  Leola is 18.1% of the county population while Eureka is 33.5% of the county population.  The county seat is pronounced LEE-OE-LA.