Lemmon, South Dakota

Lemmon, South Dakota
City
Location in Perkins County and the state of South Dakota
Coordinates: 45°56′22″N 102°9′36″W / 45.93944°N 102.16000°W / 45.93944; -102.16000Coordinates: 45°56′22″N 102°9′36″W / 45.93944°N 102.16000°W / 45.93944; -102.16000
Country	United States
State	South Dakota
County	Perkins
Incorporated	1908[1]
Area[2]
• Total	1.04 sq mi (2.69 km2)
• Land	1.04 sq mi (2.69 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	2,569 ft (783 m)
Population (2010)[3]
• Total	1,227
• Estimate (2015)[4]	1,232
• Density	1,179.8/sq mi (455.5/km2)
Time zone	Mountain (MST) (UTC-7)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC-6)
ZIP code	57638
Area code(s)	605
FIPS code	46-36340
GNIS feature ID	1256086[5]
Website	lemmonsd.com

Lemmon is a city in Perkins County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,227 at the 2010 census.

Lemmon has the name of G. E. Lemmon, a cattleman.^[6]

Geography

Lemmon is located at 45°56′22″N 102°9′36″W / 45.93944°N 102.16000°W / 45.93944; -102.16000 (45.939375, -102.160128).^[7] According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.04 square miles (2.69 km²), all of it land.^[2]

Lemmon's north border is the Adams County, North Dakota, state line.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census^[3] of 2010, there were 1,227 people, 567 households, and 319 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,179.8 inhabitants per square mile (455.5/km²). There were 732 housing units at an average density of 703.8 per square mile (271.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.3% White, 0.1% African American, 1.9% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.7% of the population.

There were 567 households of which 20.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.7% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 43.7% were non-families. 39.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.73.

The median age in the city was 50.8 years. 17.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.3% were from 25 to 44; 31.2% were from 45 to 64; and 27.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.6% male and 52.4% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,398 people, 623 households, and 356 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,378.7 people per square mile (534.4/km²). There were 776 housing units at an average density of 765.3 per square mile (296.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.99% White, 0.14% African American, 2.65% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.29% from other races, and 0.57% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.50% of the population.

There were 623 households out of which 25.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.5% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.7% were non-families. 40.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.91.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.9% under the age of 18, 6.3% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 18.7% from 45 to 64, and 27.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $28,109, and the median income for a family was $37,813. Males had a median income of $27,426 versus $17,813 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,272. About 8.0% of families and 12.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.

Climate

Sites of interest

Lemmon is home to the world’s largest Petrified Wood Park. This tourist attraction fills an entire block of the downtown area and is built entirely of petrified wood, fossils and stone. Construction began in 1930 and continued until 1932 under the supervision of Ole S. Quammen. It was in private ownership until 1954 when it was donated to the city by Quammen's heirs. The park features a wishing well, a waterfall, and a castle. The castle weighs 300 tons and boasts towering spires and turrets. Also in the park are two separate museums, both built entirely of petrified wood. The larger of the two is circular has a petrified grass floor along with petrified logs. Dinosaur claws, bird tracks and fossilized snakes can be seen in the petrified wood. Also in the museum are antiques and artifacts from the Lemmon area. The formations in the park number over 100 and are up to 20 feet tall.

The Boss Cowman Rodeo and Celebration is the second weekend in July, and is one of the largest rodeos in the state.

The Grand River Museum is located on Highway 12. The Museum features exhibits on creation science, fossils, Native Americans, cowboys and ranch life, a full-scale tipi and a model of the Ark. Admission is free.

Lemmon has a 9-hole golf course, an airport, two convenience stores, a hardware store, a grocery store, an American Legion, and many other businesses. It is home to the Powderhorn family restaurant, the Alaska Cafe, Benny's steakhouse, the R bar, and the Chinese Garden. Lemmon also has 7 churches, 3 financial institutions, a library, a movie theater, a clinic, a nursing home, an eye clinic, a dentistry office, and a veterinarian clinic. There are also 3 hotels in town, the Dakota Lodge, the Lemmon Country Inn, and the In Town Motel. The Lemmon Sale Barn is just to the west of town, with sales every Wednesday.

Many Lemmonites are employed at Wheeler Manufacturing, which produces jewelry products. Gregorian, Inc., and Dakota Woodcrafts also employ manufacturing workers. Other major employers are the school system B &C Plumbing and Heating and ranches.

Government

The mayor of Lemmon is Neal Pinnow, who was elected in April 2008 to replace outgoing mayor Wally Dauwen. The city council has eight members. The Lemmon Police Department was absorbed by the Perkins County Sheriffs Department now having 3 deputies, along with a SD Highway Patrolman stationed in Lemmon and a 30-man volunteer fire department.

Education

Lemmon's school district includes a high school and an elementary school. The Progress country school operated in Meadow until the summer of 2010, when it was destroyed by a tornado. The small rural school district was then consolidated into the Lemmon and Faith districts.

Local media

AM radio

Notable people

• Kathleen Norris (poet)

See also

• North Lemmon, North Dakota

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lemmon, South Dakota.

Municipalities and communities of Perkins County, South Dakota, United States
County seat: Bison
City	Lemmon
Town	Bison
Townships	Ada Anderson Antelope Barrett Beck-Highland Bison Burdick Cash Castle Butte Chaudoin Clark De Witt Duell Englewood Flat Creek Flint Rock Foster Fredlund Glendo Grand River Hall Horse Creek Liberty Lincoln Lodgepole Lone Tree Maltby Marshfield Meadow Moreau Plateau Rainbow Rockford Scotch Cap Sidney Strool Trail Vail Vickers Viking Vrooman Wells White Butte Wilson
CDP	Prairie City
Other unincorporated communities	Bixby Chance Coal Springs Date Imogene Lodgepole Meadow Shadehill Sorum Strool Summerville Usta White Butte Zeona
Ghost towns	Ellingson Zeona

State of South Dakota
Pierre (capital)
Topics	Cities Delegations Famous South Dakotans Geography Government History Timeline Towns & Villages Townships Transportation State Parks Symbols Universities Visitor attractions
Society	Culture Crime Demographics Economy Education Politics
Regions	Badlands Black Hills Coteau des Prairies Coteau du Missouri Dissected Till Plains Drift Prairie East River Pine Ridge Siouxland West River
Larger cities pop. over 5,000	Aberdeen Belle Fourche Box Elder Brandon Brookings Harrisburg Huron Madison Mitchell Pierre Rapid City Sioux Falls Spearfish Sturgis Vermillion Watertown Yankton
Smaller cities pop. 1,000 - 5,000	Baltic Beresford Britton Canton Chamberlain Clark Clear Lake Crooks Custer De Smet Deadwood Dell Rapids Eagle Butte Elk Point Flandreau Fort Pierre Freeman Garretson Gettysburg Gregory Groton Hartford Hot Springs Lead Lemmon Lennox Martin Milbank Miller Mission Mobridge North Sioux City Parkston Platte Redfield Salem Sisseton Springfield Summerset Tea Tyndall Volga Wagner Webster Winner
Largest CDPs pop. over 1,000	Blackhawk Colonial Pine Hills Dakota Dunes Fort Thompson North Eagle Butte North Spearfish Oglala Pine Ridge Porcupine Rapid Valley Rosebud
Largest towns pop. over 500	Aurora Humboldt St. Francis Wall
Counties	Aurora Beadle Bennett Bon Homme Brookings Brown Brule Buffalo Butte Campbell Charles Mix Clark Clay Codington Corson Custer Davison Day Deuel Dewey Douglas Edmunds Fall River Faulk Grant Gregory Haakon Hamlin Hand Hanson Harding Hughes Hutchinson Hyde Jackson Jerauld Jones Kingsbury Lake Lawrence Lincoln Lyman Marshall McCook McPherson Meade Mellette Miner Minnehaha Moody Oglala Lakota Pennington Perkins Potter Roberts Sanborn Spink Stanley Sully Todd Tripp Turner Union Walworth Yankton Ziebach