Todd County

Todd County is an administrative division in South Dakota marked by rolling hills and semi-arid grasslands with numerous gullies cutting across the terrain. The county stretches across about 1,400 square miles and is shaped by drainage systems that flow toward the northeast.

The county was established in 1909 and named after John Blair Smith Todd, a Dakota Territory delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives. This naming honored a key figure in the region's early territorial development.

The entire area sits on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, where Sioux culture shapes daily life and community identity throughout the region.

The county lacks its own administrative center and depends on Winner in neighboring Tripp County for essential government services like auditing and treasury functions. Visitors should know that many administrative operations are centralized outside the county.

The area remained one of the last three unorganized counties in the US until 1981 and received home rule status two years later. This late formalization made it an outlier in American administrative history.

Location: South Dakota

Inception: 1909

Capital city: Winner

Shares border with: Mellette County, Cherry County, Jackson County, Bennett County, Tripp County, Keya Paha County

GPS coordinates: 43.18000,-100.73000

Latest update: December 7, 2025 19:30