How Mitchell, South Dakota Got Its Name (It Started Out as Firesteel)

Mitchell, South Dakota, is named for Alexander Mitchell, the Milwaukee banker who was president of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway when its tracks came through. The settlers who were already there had a different town, with a different name, a couple of miles away.

Where the name comes from

Alexander Mitchell ran the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul, better known as the Milwaukee Road, and in the late 1870s that railroad was pushing west across Dakota Territory. A 1908 railroad guide to place names says the town “was named by J. D. Lawler of Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, for Alexander Mitchell, then president of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway.” The U.S. Geological Survey’s place-name record quotes that same line.

The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee describes Mitchell as one of that city’s leading bankers. The Mitchell Republic, the town’s newspaper, says local historians doubt Mitchell ever visited the place.

What it was before: Firesteel

The town on the map today isn’t where the first settlers put down roots. The Mitchell Republic says settlers arrived around 1871 where Firesteel Creek meets the James River, hoping the railroad would come their way. They called their settlement Firesteel.

The railroad had other plans. According to the paper, the line was laid a couple of miles west of Firesteel. The usual explanation is that the old site sat in a flood plain, but historian James McLaird, quoted by the paper, doubted that and thought the railroad simply wanted control of a brand-new townsite. There’s also a local story that a surveyor spotted driftwood caught high up in a tree and took it as a warning, but that’s a story told about the decision, not a record of it.

John D. Lawler, the same man the 1908 guide credits with the name, bought land along the new line, and a new town was laid out there in 1879. Dakota News Now says Firesteel’s settlers moved their buildings over to the new site, and puts the number at 32. So Firesteel didn’t vanish. It picked up, moved west and took the railroad’s name.

One railroad president, two South Dakota towns

Mitchell has a sibling up north. Aberdeen was also named because of Alexander Mitchell, this time for the corner of Scotland he came from. The same railroad president is behind both names, about 120 miles apart.

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 J. D. Lawler named the town for Alexander Mitchell.
• GNIS feature 1256500 (U.S. Geological Survey). The federal record for Mitchell. Its history note quotes the 1908 guide, so it isn’t a separate source. Gives 1883 for incorporation.
• Mitchell Republic, “Railroad charted Mitchell’s future.” Firesteel, the flood-plain explanation and the doubts about it, Lawler’s land and the move to the new townsite.
• Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, “Alexander Mitchell.” Mitchell’s career as a Milwaukee banker.
• Dakota News Now, “Have you ever wondered: How did Mitchell get its name?” The local telling of Firesteel and the 32 buildings that moved.