The Tale Of Hooker, South Dakota: Exploring Lost Heritage

When the weather warms up and green starts to pop through the brown winter landscape there's nothing I like better than taking a little South Dakota road trip. Five years ago, I did just that with a trip to Viborg, South Dakota.

The trip included a conversation with Larry Wallace who actually lives in Hooker, South Dakota. I asked what happened to the little town and if it had anything to do with the railroad.

Wallace said "Actually it's the highways passed Hooker by. The railway is gone, but authorities decided it was more important to easily travel to Viborg or Centerville. Wallace said that the early days of Hooker found livestock producers loading cattle out to Sioux City and Chicago."

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READ MORE: Take A Summer Trip To South Dakota’s Underwater Ghost Town

According to Wikipedia, there isn't much more to go on than that.  Hooker was founded in 1894, and named for John Hooker, a pioneer settler. The post office in Hooker closed in 1954.

I stopped by the Daneville Heritage Museum and Family Research Center where they have a ton of treasures from the area including the old post office boxes.

It's kind of fun getting off the beaten path and taking a look at what used to be towns and sometimes thriving communities.

Now, when someone asks 'have you ever been to Hooker, South Dakota," I can tell them "yes."

Thanks for sharing this story with your Facebook and Twitter friends! Here are some of the comments we've seen so far:

Nate Knuth: "There's a Hooker Oklahoma too, about 50 miles straight west of Beaver Ok. Hooker's high school mascot used to be The Horny Toads, now I believe it is the Bulldogs. My Dad was born in raised in Texhoma OK, I heard all the stories. Texhoma's mascot? The Red Devils"

Ashley Oliver-Nelson: "This is where I grew up! My parents remodeled the old general store into our house."

Michelle Kracke: "Nope. But I once lived in the corner House on hooker and main in White SD 😂😂 oh the jokes from that one... 😒"