Nobody knows the exact location of the biblical Mount Sinai, but Sinai, South Dakota lies in the southwest corner of Brookings County near Lake Sinai, a deep little walleye lake. And just east of the town and the lake is the Post family farm. Or should we call it a zoo? Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
South Dakota Magazine finished its 2015″Fair Tour” with a Labor Day weekend visit to the South Dakota State Fair in Huron. We met all sorts of interesting people. Here are just a few of them. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
South Dakota Magazine’s Katie Hunhoff spearheaded a paint-a-fish extravaganza in downtown Yankton Wednesday night, bringing the city’s RiverWalk sculpture organization and Yankton Area Arts Association to team up on a project for kids. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
The fertile fields of Hutchinson County became a haven for ethnic Germans fleeing Russia in the 1870s. They had lived there for years, enticed by Catherine the Great to transform the region around the Black Sea into Europe’s breadbasket. She offered freedom from military service, but when Czar Alexander II rescinded that promise in 1871, the pacifist Germans sought new land. Several thousand emigrated to southeastern Dakota Territory beginning in 1873. By the end of the decade, Germans had established farms up the James River Valley to the Menno and Freeman areas, where their descendants still work the land. Joel Schwader, of Rapid City, grew up in Freeman. He visited his hometown this summer and shared these photos from rural Hutchinson County.
Crooks hosted its annual rodeo and Community Days May 30-31. Fans have flocked to the little town north of Sioux Falls for last 24 years to see events like barrel racing, steer wrestling, bull riding, team penning and calf roping. Over 70 people competed this year with prize money totaling over $16,000.
Crooks was originally called New Hope. A name change was made in 1904 to honor early settler D.O. Crooks, who acted as depot agent, bank president, waterworks and lighting plant owner, township board member, postmaster and school treasurer. Residents have suffered good-natured ribbing ever since. Photos by Kim Nelson, Vermillion.
Colleen McCurrin shared photos from Peoria Flats north of Pierre. “My parents have ranched in this area since 1964 and my husband Lee and I are fortunate to live next door to my childhood home,” McCurrin says. “These photos were taken on Good Friday while riding with my brother, Casey, as he put out salt blocks in the calving pasture.”
McCurrin bought her first camera in 1984 while working for Miller’s Photo Studio in Pierre. She’s been interested in photography as a hobby ever since. She works as a truck broker for North Central Logistics.
“Trees and Trains” are always popular in South Dakota, but they take on a real luster this year at the South Dakota State Railroad Museum in Hill City. The exhibit can still be enjoyed Dec. 26 and 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and noon to 4 p.m. on Dec. 28. Photos by Bernie Hunhoff.
