Town of the Week, July 11, 1998

Take a visit to Baltic, SD; listen in.

Baltic, SD

On the banks of the Big Sioux River, where the dam and flour mill stand; see the village smithees with coffee and lefse in hand. A century ago, the smithees were Arne Brunn and Inge Berg, symbols of heavily-Scandinavian St. Olaf, South Dakota.

Established in 1881 as a way-station on the Milwaukee Railroad, St. Olaf eventually became Keyes, then Baltic, to honor immigrants from the area of the Baltic Sea.

The flour mill was used by farmers all around, most of whom banded together to build the Baltic Farmers Elevator Company to market their grain. 1980 was a tragic year for that elevator when the office was destroyed by fire in April, and the mill, warehouse and all the contents burned in May. However, the works was rebuilt the following year.

Through the years, Baltic has been a beehive of cooperatives; including a creamery, telephone company and building supply. This city of 750 people is but 17 miles from Sioux Falls, and "home" to many who work there.

A new eastside subdivision, Baltic Heights, includes a 15-acre park site called Baltic Park 2000. To raise money to landscape the site, Baltic held its first-ever rock and roll concert two Saturdays ago. It's a neat little town, where some people know more about your business than you do, but would still go out of their way to help you if you were in need.

It's the home of the high school Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs, and our Town of the Week, Baltic, South Dakota.

The Grasshopper Legend They tormented the cattle and horses and ate the leaves off vegetables, the wood of pitchforks, rakes and hoes. They flew in swarms thick enough to choke a man. Beginning in 1874, an infestation of the worst kind plagued the plains of eastern South Dakota. Fighting the swarms of grasshoppers was beginning to look like an effort in futility when Father Pierre Boucher decided to appeal to a Higher Authority to help save the crops. The pastor led a pilgrimage on an 11-mile trek from field to field. In each field a giant cross was erected to ward off the grasshoppers, and the people prayed for divine intervention to stop the horrible plague. Miraculously, their prayers were answered. The grasshoppers disappeared that very same day.

Official Tourism Website for Baltic, SD

Motto: "Under God the People Rule" Fossil: Triceratops Bird: Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant Slogan: "Great Faces. Great Places" Flower: Pasque Song: Hail, South Dakota Animal: Coyote Greeting: "How Kola" (Hello, Friend)

Info for "D'ja Know?" and "Fun Facts" compiled from the South Dakota Official State Page.