Welcome to Spearfish ...
The city of Spearfish is located in Lawrence County<1>.
Spearfish was established in 1876.
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Spearfish has a population of 11,792 people<2> (see below for details).
The community of Spearfish is 3,750 feet [1,143 m] above sea level.<3> In other words, the elevation of Spearfish is about ¾ mile [or ~1¼ km] above sea level.
Time Zone: Spearfish lies in the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT) and observes daylight saving time
Area Code for Spearfish: 605
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Spearfish had an population of 11,792 people. This is an increase of 12.37% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 37.02% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Spearfish had a population of 10,494 people (or 43.35% of the total population of Lawrence County). This makes Spearfish the county's most populous community.
The population of Spearfish represents 1.29% of the population of South Dakota (which has 814,180 people), making it the state's 13th most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 10,494 people, the population of Spearfish increased 21.94% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 8,606 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Spearfish.
Websites for Spearfish ...
Official Website: www.city.spearfish.sd.us/
Communities near Spearfish ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Spearfish.
- Sturgis
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sturgis
- Sturgis is located in Meade County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 6,978 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Sturgis <4>
- Belle Fourche
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Belle Fourche have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Belle Fourche
- Belle Fourche is located in Butte County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 5,742 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Belle Fourche <4>
- Lead
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the southeast)- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Lead. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lead
- Lead is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,947 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lead <4>
- Deadwood
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Deadwood
- Deadwood is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 1,294 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Deadwood <4>
- Whitewood
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewood
- Whitewood is located in Lawrence County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 999 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Whitewood <4>
- Trojan
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Trojan
- Trojan is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 627 people
- Tinton ‑ Historic
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tinton
- Tinton is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 477 people
- Lancaster City ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lancaster City have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster City
- Lancaster City is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 419 people
- Saint Onge
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Saint Onge
- Saint Onge is located in Lawrence County
- Estimated population in 2014: 342 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Saint Onge <4>
- Nisland
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Nisland have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Nisland
- Nisland is located in Butte County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 227 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Nisland <4>
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 Spearfish. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Spearfish.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Spearfish. 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 Spearfish.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Spearfish. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Spearfish.
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Spearfish ...
Looking for more information about Spearfish? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Spearfish, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Spearfish.
Adding Spearfish to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Spearfish in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Spearfish was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>
X2X - From that list, the Spearfish post office opened in 1878.
We also found Spearfish in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Spearfish.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Spearfish: www.city.spearfish.sd.us/
The official website for Lawrence County: www.lawrence.sd.us/
The official website for State of South Dakota: https://www.sd.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of South Dakota's counties, including Lawrence, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Spearfish. |
| <3> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Spearfish - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <4> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <5> | 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. |
| <6> | 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. |
| <7> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |