Aurora County, South Dakota

Aurora County Education, Geography, and History

Aurora County is a county located in the state of South Dakota. Based on the 2010 census, the population was 2,710. Aurora County, named for Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn was created in 1879 and organized in 1881. Its county seat is Plankinton.

Etymology - Origin of Aurora County Name

Aurora is named for Aurora, Greco-Roman goddess of the dawn. Aurora is the Latin word for dawn, the goddess of dawn in Roman mythology and Latin poetry. Aurora is comparable to the Greek goddess Eos, though Aurora did not bring with her any resonance of a greater archaic goddess.

Demographics:

County QuickFacts: CensusBureau Quick Facts

Aurora County History

Aurora County was named for Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn. The county was created by an act of the legislature on February 22, 1879 from Cragin and Wetmore counties and organized by the appointment of three Commissioners in 1881. The first meeting was held on August 29, 1881 at which time Plankinton was made the county seat. This action was ratified by a vote of the people at the general election in November 1882. The county seat is Plankinton.

Geography: Land and Water

As reported by the Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 713 square miles (1,845 km²), of which, 708 square miles (1,834 km²) of it is land and 4 square miles (11 km²) of it (0.61%) is water.

Aurora Couinty is located in the southeastern part of the state

Neighboring Counties

Bordering counties are as follows:

• Jerauld County, South Dakota - north
• Sanborn County, South Dakota - northeast
• Davison County, South Dakota - east
• Douglas County, South Dakota - south
• Charles Mix County, South Dakota - southwest
• Brule County, South Dakota - west

Education

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