Is Union Center the smallest SD town to produce a governor?

With the announcement this week that Governor Kristi Noem will accept a position in the Trump cabinet as Secretary of Homeland Security, Lt. Governor Larry Rhoden is on track to become South Dakota’s 34th governor.

Rhoden, who was a longtime legislator before becoming lieutenant governor, is a lifelong resident of Union Center, a small town along Highway 34 in Meade County. The town is so small, in fact, that it begs the question: Would it be the smallest town to be the home of a South Dakota governor?

To answer this question, this blogger looked at the city of residence of each governor at the time that he or she was elected, and then looked at the population of that city at the most recent previous census. For example, Joe Foss became governor in 1955, so his hometown of Sioux Falls is counted by the 1950 census. (The complete list is included at the bottom of the post.)

This method is not as simple as it sounds because three gubernatorial home cities were not even large enough to be counted by the census: Pierpont, the home of Charles H. Sheldon, in 1890; Houghton, the home of Ralph Herseth, in 1950; and Union Center, the home of Larry Rhoden, in 2020.

Looking at the smallest available jurisdiction, however, it does appear that Union Center takes the prize as the smallest:

• Union Center is in the Chalk Butte precinct, which had 189 people in the 2020 census.
• The town of Hazel had 191 residents in the 1930 census, the year that Warren E. Green was elected governor.
• The town of Frankfort, the home of Harvey Wollman, had 192 residents in the 1970 census; he became governor in 1978.
• Tom Berry’s home of Belvidere had 214 residents in the 1930 census.
• Houghton, the home of Ralph Herseth, was part of Shelby Township in Brown County; it had 236 residents in the 1950 census.
• Pierpont, the home of Charles H. Sheldon, was not counted in the census separately until 1910. In the 1890 census, it was part of Union Township in Day County, which had 308 residents.

The lack of a specific population for Pierpont in 1890, Houghton in 1950, or Union Center in 2020 makes in impossible to say with certainty, but from the available census information, it does appear likely that once Larry Rhoden moves up, Union Center can claim to be the smallest South Dakota town ever to be the home of the governor.

Not surprisingly, the largest city to elect a governor is Sioux Falls, but it was some time ago. Nils Boe was elected from Sioux Falls in 1964 and 1966; according to the 1960 census, Sioux Falls had 65,466 residents at that time. The only other times a city of at least 10,000 people has elected a governor are Joe Foss from Sioux Falls (52,969 residents), George S. Mickelson from Brookings (14,951), and Mike Rounds from Pierre (13,876). In contrast, Rhoden would be the 15th governor from a town of less than 1,000 people.

Here is the complete list:

#	Governor	Home city	Took office	Census	Population
34	Larry Rhoden	Union Center	2025 (anticipated)	2020	189	(Chalk Butte precinct)
13	Warren E. Green	Hazel	1931	1930	191
26	Harvey Wollman	Frankfort	1978	1970	192
14	Tom Berry	Belvidere	1933	1930	214
21	Ralph E. Herseth	Houghton	1959	1950	236	(Shelby township)
2	Charles H. Sheldon	Pierpont	1893	1890	308	(Union township)
7	Robert S. Vessey	Wessington Springs	1909	1900	320
17	M. Q. Sharpe	Kennebec	1943	1940	390
22	Archie Gubbrud	Alcester	1961	1960	479
29	Walter Dale Miller	New Underwood	1993	1990	553
18	George T. Mickelson	Selby	1947	1940	599
33	Kristi Noem	Castlewood	2019	2010	627
5	Samuel H. Elrod	Clark	1905	1900	684
8	Frank M. Byrne	Faulkton	1913	1910	802
4	Charles N. Herreid	Eureka	1901	1900	961
25	Richard F. Kneip	Salem	1971	1970	1,391
24	Frank Farrar	Britton	1969	1960	1,442
16	Harlan J. Bushfield	Miller	1939	1930	1,447
3	Andrew E. Lee	Vermillion	1897	1890	1,496
12	William J. Bulow	Beresford	1927	1920	1,519
27	William J. Janklow	Flandreau	1979	1970	2,027
19	Sigurd Anderson	Webster	1951	1950	2,503
1	Arthur C. Mellette	Watertown	1889	1880	2,672
6	Coe I. Crawford	Huron	1907	1900	2,793
9	Peter Norbeck	Redfield	1917	1910	2,856
15	Leslie Jensen	Hot Springs	1937	1930	3,486
30	William J. Janklow	Brandon	1995	1990	3,545
32	Dennis Daugaard	Dell Rapids	2011	2010	3,633
10	William H. McMaster	Yankton	1921	1920	5,024
11	Carl Gunderson	Mitchell	1925	1920	8,478
31	Mike Rounds	Pierre	2003	2000	13,876
28	George S. Mickelson	Brookings	1987	1980	14,951
20	Joe Foss	Sioux Falls	1955	1950	52,969
23	Nils Boe	Sioux Falls	1965	1960	65,466