Welcome to Pactola ...
So far, we found very little information about Pactola. The little that we've found leads us believe that the community is historic.<1>
We've added Pactola to our Gazetteer with the hope that we can develop more information. If you can help us with Pactola, please Contact Us.
Pactola would have been located within present day Pennington County<2>.
The pronunciation of Pactola: pak-TOH-luh<3>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Pactola, you might consider that their post office opened in 1877.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Pactola is 4,460 feet [1,359 m] above sea level.<4> In other words, the altitude of Pactola is about ¾ mile [or ~1¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: The area where Pactola was located is in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
The Area Code where Pactola was located: 605
Communities near Pactola ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Pactola.
- Rapid City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
- Rapid Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)
- Spokane ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south)
- Summerset
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Gregory ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest)
- Gregory is located in Lawrence County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory
- Estimated population in 2014: 1,264 people
- Hill City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)
- Piedmont
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)
- Murphy
(18 miles [29 km] to the east)
- Murphy is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Murphy
- Estimated population in 2014: 482 people
- Sheridan ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south)
- Sheridan is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sheridan
- Estimated population in 2014: 447 people
- South Canyon Country Estates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
- South Canyon Country Estates is located in Pennington County
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canyon Country Estates
- Population from the 2010 Census: 364 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Pactola. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Pactola.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Pactola. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Pactola.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Pactola. See our Newspapers Page for Pactola.
Adding Pactola to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Pactola in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found (so far) for Pactola was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Pactola post office opened in 1877. The Pactola post office closed in 1953.
For more details, see References and Mentions for Pactola.
Footnotes ...
| <1> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Pactola, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <2> | If you're interested in how the shape of South Dakota's counties, including Pennington, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <3> | The pronunciation we've provided is our attempt to give a phonetic pronunciation for Pactola. While it might not be exactly right, hopefully it will be close. If we have it wrong or there's a better way to pronounce the name, please contact us through our Feedback Page. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Pactola - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | A copy of the Blevins & Helbock Post Office list with background information can be found at:
https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |