Pactola
A historical populated place in Pennington County, South Dakota, recorded by the U.S. Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System.
Location Record
Names and historical notes
Recorded by GNIS. Source wording is retained; these notes have not been independently verified by Forgotten America.
GNIS historical note
Mining town; named in 1878 by HN Maguire for the Pactolus River, source of the wealth of ancient Lydia. General George Crook established his camp there in 1875 to prevent miners from entering the Black Hills in violation of the treaty of Fourt Laramie of 1868. Inundated in early 1950s upon creation of the Pactola Reseroir.
Also recorded as
- Camp Crook
Source editions and recorded citations
Feature ID 1267038. Description/History extract: August 28, 2026. All Names extract: September 30, 2026. Retrieved October 22, 2026. Only populated fields are displayed.
GNIS citation text may identify a source series rather than a specific page. It is reproduced below without implying that its underlying documents were inspected.
- Text Sneve, Virginia Driving Hawk. South Dakota Geographic Names. Brevet Press, Sioux Falls, SD, 1973.
- Text The American Guide Series, Compiled and Written by the Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration. A state by state guide series published by various publishers, in the late 1930's and 1940's. Each book studies and describes each state's history, natural endowments, and special interests. Use code US-T125/Name/YYYY/p#.
Source: U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System (GNIS), Historical Features.