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>.
We aren't confident of the location of Pactola, so consider the above location as an estimate.<3>
The pronunciation of Pactola: pak-TOH-luh<4>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Pactola, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.
While the community is gone, the present day location for Pactola is 4,460 feet [1,359 m] above sea level.<5> In other words, the elevation 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
Pactola would have been located in the (605) area code.
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)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid City
- Rapid City is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 78,864 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Rapid City <6>
- Rapid Valley
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rapid Valley
- Rapid Valley is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 8,260 people
- Spokane ‑ Historic
(16 miles [25.7 km] to the south) - Summerset
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summerset
- Summerset is located in Meade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,691 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Summerset <6>
- Gregory ‑ Historic
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the northwest) - Hill City
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hill City have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hill City
- Hill City is located in Pennington County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,074 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hill City <6>
- Piedmont
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Piedmont
- Piedmont is located in Meade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 895 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Piedmont <6>
- Murphy
(18 miles [29 km] to the east) - Sheridan ‑ Historic
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the south) - South Canyon Country Estates
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for South Canyon Country Estates have been provided by the GNIS.<7> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for South Canyon Country Estates
- South Canyon Country Estates is located in Pennington County
- 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 for Pactola was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Pactola.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Pennington County: www.co.pennington.sd.us/
The official website for State of South Dakota: sd.gov/
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> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <4> | 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. |
| <5> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Pactola - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <6> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <7> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |