Hand County Historical Society - McWhorter House

04/24/2026

It's ! This postcard image of the Mitchell, SD Carnegie Library dates from 1903, and the postcard was mailed in 1905. We hope Kate enjoyed her visit to Mitchell. From the South Dakota Digital Archives: https://histsd.access.preservica.com/portal/en-US/asset/sdb%3AIO%7C9acaa4ed-b4c5-4110-abcd-7ce10745ea14

04/15/2026

April 15, 1912
Few tragedies hold the public's imagination like the sinking of the RMS Titanic. 1500 people died in the icy North Atlantic. We often read of the rich and famous like Jacob Astor, Benjamin Guggenheim, and Isidor & Ida Straus. Among the lesser known victims was Ole Olson, from a homesteading family near Langford, SD. https://www.southdakotamagazine.com/langford-titanic-victim
Among the 712 survivors was a man named Oskar "Doc" Hedman of Bowman, ND. He worked as a settler recruiter, often travelling between his native Sweden and the Dakotas. He moved to Onida, SD in the early 1920s and was buried there in 1961. Read more about Doc Hedman:
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/oskar-arvid-hedman.html
https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/a-titanic-survivor-reached-bowman.html
https://news.prairiepublic.org/show/dakota-datebook-archive/2022-05-07/oskar-hedman-titanic-survivor

04/08/2026

Dr. McWhorter got a new Marmon car today. I wonder what color it was?

04/07/2026

Its almost our birthday 🥳 here's a little bit about the house!
Psst, if you haven't been inside since your 4th grade class tour, let us know and we'd be glad to give you a tour!

03/23/2026

Don't Forget!

03/15/2026

Notice:

Hand County Historical Society Annual Meeting
March 23, 2026 at 7pm, the McWhorter House
Guest Speaker: Kathy Micheel

03/13/2026

03/05/2026

Want to find out more about your history, but don't know where to start? Kathy has some great info to get you started!

See you all soon! - Kathy Micheel

02/12/2026

Happy Day of Hope!

01/27/2026

01/14/2026

We will be at the Farm & Home Show! Stop by our booth to chat about Hand Co. History and sign up to be a member! See you there!

Register here: https://forms.gle/8WPb2DVMDq4a6gGp7

12/08/2025

Buffalo for Christmas dinner 🤔

In 1919, Isaac Stanley of the City Meat Market in Miller, SD offered his shoppers "a rarity as well as a novelty" for their Christmas dinner: buffalo meat. The December 4, 1919 issue of the Miller Press promoted the store's venture and gave a brief history of the Scotty Philip buffalo herd.

Read the whole newspaper issue online at Chronicling America:
https://www.loc.gov/resource/sn85042790/1919-12-04/ed-1/

In 1919, many people in the area may not have ever had buffalo meat before, due to the bison population being decimated in the 1800s by overhunting. Learn more about this history of the buffalo in this article from South Dakota Public Broadcasting: https://www.sdpb.org/rural-life-and-history/a-quick-history-of-the-majestic-buffalo