How Gettysburg, South Dakota Got Its Name (Union Veterans Named It)

Gettysburg, South Dakota, is named after the Pennsylvania battlefield, because many of the Union veterans who settled here had fought there. Two decades after the battle, they put its name on a town on the Dakota prairie.

Where the name comes from

A 1908 railroad guide to place names says the town “was named from the battlefield in Pennsylvania, because many of the early settlers near here had been soldiers in the fight on that field.” It adds that the town was platted in 1884. The U.S. Geological Survey’s place-name record quotes the same book.

According to South Dakota Public Broadcasting, a small band of Civil War veterans set up a “veterans colony” in Potter County. It says Capt. John W. Kennedy was one of them, along with at least 27 other veterans of the battle.

First choice: Meade

Gettysburg wasn’t the veterans’ first idea. A Civil War memorial in town says the place “was first named Meade, in honor of General Meade,” the Union general who commanded at Gettysburg, and was later renamed for the Pennsylvania town.

South Dakota Public Broadcasting tells it a little differently: the veterans wanted Meade, the Post Office turned it down, and Kennedy reportedly suggested Gettysburg instead. Either way, they ended up honoring the battle rather than the general.

Gettysburg wins again

The new town had a fight of its own. South Dakota Magazine says Gettysburg beat the nearby town of Forest City for the Potter County seat in 1884. The same magazine story puts this town alongside two other Gettysburgs: the original in Pennsylvania and a small town in Ohio.

Sources & further reading

• W. H. Stennett, A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways (1908). A public-domain railroad guide. Says the town was named for the battlefield because many settlers had fought there, and gives 1884 for the platting.
• GNIS feature 1255235 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Gettysburg. Quotes the 1908 guide and gives 1907 for incorporation.
• South Dakota Public Broadcasting, “Dreaming of a Gettysburg Address.” The veterans’ colony, the Meade name, the Post Office and Capt. John W. Kennedy.
• Potter County Civil War memorial. Says the town was first named Meade. Read through the Historical Marker Database listing.
• South Dakota Magazine, “The Three Gettysburgs.” The 1884 county-seat win over Forest City and the other Gettysburgs.