Township Halls

When South Dakota was organized as a state in 1889, a mile square grid was laid out. A township occupied 36 square miles of the grid and was the most local unit of government. Township governments functioned to maintain roads, roadsides, weeds, ditches, and other details of communal rural life.

This photo was taken in the early 1990s.

South Dakota was much more sparsely populated then, and there was a need for opportunities for interactions among neighbors. That required a gathering place, and township halls were born. Each township had one, or shared one with a neighboring township. It was situated on the corner of a square mile, on about three acres. The men of the township saw to the upkeep of the building and grounds.

Township halls functioned as meeting places for a number of purposes. The only activity I can recall at the Holden Township Hall was our 4-H meetings. (See the “4-H"” story.) Recreational activities were frequently held there, and the hall was rented out for a variety of private purposes too. The building still stands and looks to be well cared for.

  

Gilbert-York Hall

G-Y was one of the larger township halls. There was a full concrete basement with tables, benches and a cooking stove. I’m not sure, but the stove might have burned wood or coal. There was also a furnace for heat in the basement which might have burned coal or oil. There was a coal bin and coal chute leading to it from outside of the basement. Every place had a coal bin. They were dark, dirty and scary places, but held a common, available and cheap fuel. The basement was decently lit for the time. There were two outhouses near the building.

The main floor was large, perhaps 40 feet by 25 feet. It was composed of wide boards, windows ran the length of each side, and a stage dominated one end. The stage was also quite big for the time. The backdrop was painted with advertisements for local businesses. Those paid ads helped defray various township costs.


Dad in a Township Fundraiser

I have a vague recollection of a fundraising activity that was held there when I was very young. I suppose there was an admission charge, or a raffle, or both. The stage was used for a show, and chairs were lined up on the floor for the audience.

The part I remember might have been embarrassing for Dad. In fact, I find it hard to believe that he did it, but he was clearly younger (20s), and sillier then. He was dressed in drag, with balloons for breasts. I remember people laughing, but I couldn’t understand why. It was all very strange to me, but I was very young. I had never seen my Dad dressed like that. I’m sure he didn’t just stand there, but I don’t remember what he did.

Jack Rabbit Drives

I remember jack rabbit drives too. That must have been in around 1960, when jack rabbits covered the Plains, ate crops and were simply a general nuisance. There was a bounty from the county or state that contributed to the township treasury. The drives were held in winter.

The men, some women and some children, went out in cars. (Pickups were quite rare in those days.) The cars surrounded a large field, or several fields not divided by fences, and began to drive toward the center. The jackrabbits ran ahead of the cars until all met, with the rabbits in middle of a large circle of hunters. 22 caliber rifles were the weapon of choice. They got out of the cars and shot and shot and shot. The people on the other side of the circle weren’t in danger of a stray bullet, because the shooting was directed down at the ground.

The drive was repeated several times, until there were trunk loads of rabbits. It didn’t really make a dent in the jack rabbit population because they bred so rapidly.

While the drive was going on outside, cooking was happening in the hall. I remember Cliff Rush making oyster stew. It was a very popular soup of the time, and Dad used to say that Cliff knew how to create the best. I know that he started it right away, hours before the hunters returned. I have no idea what his recipe was, and I don’t remember the taste.

I do remember sitting at the tables with other children eating the stew. I especially remember the crackers. Oyster crackers. They tasted like saltines, but they were small, round and puffy. I thought they were very exotic. We never had them at home. I suppose they were more expensive than saltines.


Roller Skates and Basketball

Gilbert-York Hall came into regular use in the 1960s when Walt Jenner, a neighbor, somehow got many clamp-on roller skates.

“I got a brand new pair of roller skates,
You got a brand new key.
I think that we should get together and try them out, to see ...”

That’s from a song by Melanie, pressed in 1970. She was singing about clamp-on roller skates.

This is just what our skates looked like.

Roller Skate Key

You can see from the photo that there were clamps and straps on the skate. We generally used athletic shoes, with the straps tightened over the ankles. There was a key, similar to an allen wrench, which was used to bring the clamps closer together so the skate stayed on at the toes. I remember times when the skate came off my toes, and having to stop and use the key to tighten it up once more.

Walt and Virginia Jenner has two girls who came to skate. There were Oligmuellers, Sieglings, Graces, our cousins the Strasburgs, Watkins and others who participated. We each had skates that fit us, as best clamp-ons ever can, which we kept and maintained at home. We all learned to skate together.

I had not skated before, and learned to turn, stay on my feet, and get up some speed. That was about the extent of my skating talent. Kay didn’t do very well. She had some eyesight issues that affected her depth perception, so athletic activities were difficult for her. Jim, Terry and Tammy did pretty well, as did most everyone. By the time Jill was old enough to participate, G-Y Hall was no longer in use.

Parents skated too. Dad was a good skater. Mom did not skate due to the weakness of the ankle she broke in 1958. Also, there were frequently little ones she needed to care for. The adults tried to teach us the etiquette and elegance of skating. Most of us wanted to go fast and race.

The Watkins family were excellent skaters. Ralph, the father, and sons Eddie and Joe became quite talented. They could spin, skate backwards, on one foot, in a squat. They did much more than any of the rest. There were no girls in that family, and Pat, the wife, was not athletic.

Round and round we went, learning how to skate turns, how to get up when we fell and avoid running over each other, building muscles, getting exercise, laughing and playing together. Adults brought drinks and snacks from home for our breaks.

At some time, someone put up basketball hoops at each end of the hall. That was the eventual death-knell for skating. Basketball was more popular, and it could not co-exist with skating on the same floor at the same time. We did try, but there were too many basketball/skater collisions.

There were some exciting basketball games, which I enjoyed very much. I got picked before some of the boys because I was a good player, and I really liked how that felt. I was unsure about so many things, but quite comfortable on a basketball court.


As the children got older, the hall got more expensive to maintain, and families added more activities, Gilbert-York Hall faded away. The floor that was polished with so many skates became dusty; the cook stove no longer worked: no coal was delivered; basketball hoops sagged; nets torn. The walls that had echoed to our shouts and laughter warped with dampness when the untended roof leaked rain.

Gilbert-York Hall suffered the same fate as most others. It was torn down and there is nothing left to indicate its presence now. It was a place of gathering, fun, safety, relaxation and warm memories. The early citizens of South Dakota who realized that township halls were important to the life of the community, were very wise indeed.