Find your ancestors in South Dakota State Census 1925

Were your ancestors living in South Dakota at the time of the 1925 State Census? Have a look on Findmypast and find out their age, where they were born, whether they were married and where their parents were born. Discover what religion and nationality they were.

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Discover more about South Dakota State Census 1925

The census in 1925 was the fourth population index taken by the state of South Dakota. All the counts took place mid-decade. State Censuses are every bit as useful for family research as National Censuses and they are a great way of tracking your ancestors’ movements between the Federal censuses.

South Dakota is in the American Mid-West. The state is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes. South Dakota became a state in 1889, at the same time as North Dakota. Pierre is the state capital and Sioux Falls is the largest city. South Dakota is bordered by North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana and is bisected by the Missouri River. The state is largely rural, with ranching being a major livelihood in the west of the state. South Dakota currently has the fifth lowest population in all 50 member states. Population peaked in the 1920s.

In 1925 Gutzon Borglum was searching for somewhere to carve his greatest work. That year he he found Mount Rushmore. Borglum, son of Danish immigrants, spent his childhood in Nebraska. He studied art with Auguste Rodin in Paris, as well as in California and London. With Mount Rushmore he was planning something that would resonate with all Americans – Washington represents the creation of the United States, Jefferson reflects the expansion of the country through the Louisiana Purchase, Lincoln, the preservation of the country through the Civil War and Roosevelt, the development of the country as a world power leading into the 20th Century.

Borglum was approached by Doane Robinson, the official historian for the state. He was looking for something that would draw the tourists. Originally he envisaged heroes of the American West but Borglum was planning something more universal.

Carving began in 1927, a huge operation using around 30 men at any given time and 400 in total. Construction took 14 years and cost nearly $1 million. Borglum died before the project was finished, at the age of 73, in 1941. His son took over but federal funds were needed elsewhere and construction stopped later that year, leaving the carving as it was. The carving has not been without controversy. Many local Lakota see it as a desecration of their sacred homeland. In the 1930s Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear hired sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve the face of legendary Lakota leader, Crazy Horse, in a cliff just 15 miles from Mount Rushmore, on a scale that would dwarf the presidents. It is still under construction.