Hamlin County is named for Hannibal Hamlin, who was Vice-President under Abraham Lincoln.
Surrounding County Courthouses:
N – Codington County
E – Deuel County
S – Brookings County and Kingsbury County
W – Clark County
Created: January 8, 1873
County Seat:
Spalding 1878 – 1884
Castlewood 1884 – 1910
Hayti 1910 – present
County Courthouse – Hayti
Location: 350 4th Street / Main Street
Built: 1916 – 1917
Style: Classical Revival
Architect: Rose & Peterson of Kansas City, Missouri
Contractor: Gray Construction Company of Warertown
Description: The building faces west and is a four story gray colored stone, steel and concrete structure. The building is located on landscaped grounds in the center of Hayti and has four columns on the front rising from the second to third story. The first story of granite stone is laid out in a rusticated pattern. The entrance has two recessed doorways. A projecting cornice runs below the fourth story. The roof line is flat. In the interior, the center of the main floor features an 8 1/2 foot diameter mosaic tile of the South Dakota State seal embedded in the torgoment floor. It can be viewed from every floor through an open central atrium. A marble stairway extends to each floor with a wrought iron balustrade. Four foot marble wainscoting extends up the wall. The County Circuit Court courtroom is located on the east side of the third story. The building houses the County Circuit Court of the 3rd Judicial Circuit and the County Magistrate Court.
See: The contractor, Gray Construction Company of Watertown also constructed courthouses in Clark County, Codington County, Douglas County, Edmunds County, Faulk County, Hyde County, Sully County and Walworth County.
See: National Register of Historic Places – Hamlin County Courthouse
See: The 3rd Judicial Circuit includes Beadle County, Brookings County, Clark County, Codington County, Deuel County, Grant County, Hand County, Jerauld County, Kingsbury County, Lake County, Miner County, Moody County and Sanborn County.
History: The county was created in 1873 and Spalding was selected as the county seat after the county was organized. An office was maintained and no courthouse was erected. The county seat was moved to Castlewood in 1884 but no courthouse was erected. The county seat was then moved to Hayti in 1910. The first and present courthouse was constructed in 1916 to 1917.
County Courthouse – Hayti
County Circuit Court courtroom
Photos taken 2007 and 2018
Images 18*