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History · Jefferson

Jefferson’s history is mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Jefferson yet. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old photos & papers
2famous people
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What stands out about Jefferson’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Jefferson are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Jefferson’s homes were built before 1941.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Jefferson’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Jefferson’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story

How Jefferson came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Jefferson.

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Jefferson was primarily settled by French-Canadians. By 1867 the town consisted of 25 or so French-Canadian families. During the winter of 1880–1, the town was ravaged by a smallpox epidemic, reported to have arrived in the area via Russian Mennonite emigrants en route to Yankton, in the Dakota Territory. The town was quarantined for several weeks, without railroad service or mail delivery. At least 150 cases of "black small pox" were reported by February 1881, resulting in more than 82 deaths.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Jefferson, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Flooding - Jefferson, S. D. , June 12, 2011 -- Members of the State Incident Management Team inspect flood conditions a…2011Flooding - Jefferson, S. D. , June 12, 2011 -- Member… SDMap-doton-Jefferson2004SDMap-doton-Jefferson
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Jefferson

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

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D
Dave BernardAmerican football player · b. 1912
J
Jug ThesengaAmerican baseball player · b. 1914
Stories next door

History across the town line

BridgewaterIts storyBentonIts storyEmery1 historic placePleasantIts story

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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From Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia and Wikidata for famous people. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.

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