On Thanksgiving Day, 1887, the Pioneer Townsite Company made available Whitewood’s first business and residential lots. The Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley railroad extended its line north from Rapid City that year, temporarily making Whitewood the end of the line.
The railroad bypassed well-established Crook City by a couple miles. Many of those who originally bought Whitewood lots were Crook City residents ready to abandon the older town in hopes of finding business profits stemming from rail service. Whitewood remained the line’s end for three years and prospered in those early years as a shipping point for locally produced livestock, wool, fruit, and milled grain.
Today the community serves as somewhat of a quiet bedroom community nestled between Spearfish and Sturgis along I-90. The population of Whitewood was 927 at the 2010 census.
Helpful Links:
City of Whitewood
Whitewood Schools – Meade County School District
