Miner

Formed January 8, 1873 (31^st county)

Miner County (2,307), Howard (853)

The tan brick Art Deco facility was constructed in 1935.  The courthouse is on Main Street at Park Avenue.  South Dakota State Highway 34 passes five blocks south of the facility.  Floyd F. Kings and Walter J. Dixon are the courthouse architects.  A courthouse preceded the current one from 1895 in Howard.  Forestburg was the first county seat until 1882.  The county was created on January 8, 1873 as the 31^st county.  Miner County is named for settlers, Nelson and Ephraim Miner.  The county seat is named for the son of Judge J. D. Farmer. 

Miner County government consists of a sheriff and 5 Commissioners.  Five Circuit Court Judges and One Magistrate Court Judge serve Miner, Beadle, Brookings, Clark, Codington, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Hand, Jerauld, Kingsbury, Lake, Moody, and Sanborn counties.  The county is in eastern South Dakota.  Pierre, South Dakota is west and Sioux Falls, South Dakota is southeast of the county.  The county center is 12.3 miles Northwest of Howard nearer Argonne.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Kingsbury, Lake, McCook, Hanson, Sanborn, and Beadle counties. 

The area of the county is 570 square miles.  It is 53 out of 66 in the state.  It ranks 56 out of 66 in population in the state.  It has a density of 4.0 persons per square mile making it 40 out of 66 in the state.  Miner County has 47.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 81 enters the county from the east, Lake County, and exits to the south, McCook County.  The county is a rectangle.  Howard is located in the eastern third of the county.  Howard is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 37.0% of the county population.