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Community History Archives

Community History Archive Partner

Parkston Public Library

Parkston, South Dakota

Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Parkston.

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3Titles

Explore publications and collections from the past.

1885 to 2024Dates represented

See individual titles for available dates.

412,040Archive pages

Historical pages reported for this collection.

Explore local history

Discover the people, places, and stories of Parkston, South Dakota.

Discover another side of Parkston, South Dakota through newspapers preserved in the Parkston Public Library's digital archive. Its three titles include material from 1885 to 2024.

You can open the archive using the link below.
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  • Selected titles

    In the collection shared by Parkston Public Library, you will find “Dakota City Advance” and “The Parkston Courier”.

  • Free and open access

    No subscription or payment required.

  • A closer look

    An earlier generation comes into view through the stories its newspapers chose to report, placing familiar names and events within the concerns of their time.

The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.

Explore the collection

Titles in this collection

Browse three titles and 412,040 digitized pages, with material from 1885 to 2024. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Parkston Public Library shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.

If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.

Dakota City Advance

1,560 pages from 1885 to 1886

Parkston Advance

409,280 pages from 1886 to 2024

The Parkston Courier

1,200 pages in 1900

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About the Archive

About The Newspapers In The Archive:

  • The Parkston Advance (1886-2018): The mainstay of local journalism, covering over a century of Parkston's growth and challenges.
  • Dakota City Advance (1885-1886): Documents the brief but crucial period before Parkston’s establishment.
  • The Parkston Courier (1900): Provides specific snapshots of the year 1900, reflecting on the community’s conditions and events.

About the Library

About The Parkston Public Library

The Parkston Public Library is dedicated to enhancing community life by providing comprehensive access to a wide array of information resources. This commitment is reflected in its provision of both traditional and digital media, ensuring that all community members have the tools they need to explore, learn, and connect. The library’s efforts to digitize historical newspapers underscore its role in preserving local history while making it accessible to a broader audience.

Parkston Public Library photo 1

Partner Story

The History Of Parkston

Parkston’s origins trace back to a modest beginning with the sod shanty of Peter Swartz before 1880. The early 1880s saw a wave of immigrants who established the foundational structures of what would become a vibrant community. Despite initial hardships, including a challenging first winter and poor crop yields, the resilience of these settlers paved the way for rapid growth once the railroad expansion shifted economic opportunities towards the newly established town of Parkston. The strategic move from Dakota City to Parkston in 1886, led by individuals like F.D. Simmons and supported by the local community, marked a pivotal transition. The relocation was meticulously planned and executed, demonstrating the community's adaptive strategies and ambitions. Parkston blossomed quickly, with a flurry of construction and business activity that transformed it into a bustling center by the end of its first year.

Parkston Public Library photo 2

Local History

Did You Know?

First Building Moved: The Parkston Advance office holds the distinction of being the first complete building relocated from Dakota City to Parkston, marking a symbolic and physical shift of the community's heart. Rapid Growth: Within just a month of its founding, Parkston averaged one new building per day, a testament to the boomtown spirit that defined its early days. Cultural Milestone: By November 1886, just five months after its establishment, Parkston's population had already grown to one hundred, reflecting the rapid influx of settlers attracted by the opportunities presented by the new railroad.

More ways to explore and share local history

Research Guidance

Look for the story behind a result

The history of Parkston includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Parkston Public Library, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.

After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.

Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.

Review collection titles

Community Partnership

Keeping local history a community resource

This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Parkston Public Library, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.

Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.

Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.

Learn about partnerships
Read All About It

Stories, research tips, and archive news

Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.

Newest published articles

March 18, 2025

It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?

We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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