Conde came into existence shortly after this area of South Dakota experienced an influx of settlers. Those early settlers came in the early 1880s to take advantage of the free land guaranteed by the Homestead Act. It is situated eight miles west of where the Coteau hills of eastern South Dakota end and the flat prairie land of the James River Valley begins.

In 1883 W. W. Rounds filed on the S. W. 1/4 of Section 31 Conde Township. This is the 1/4 section of land that Conde is now located. Many settlers came to this area in the early eighties. The area around Conde was 20 miles away from a railhead in any direction. At that time a railroad was needed to survive and prosper. In 1886 the Chicago Northwester decided to build a railroad from Doland to Groton The length of this road would be about 40 miles. The land between these two points was exceptionally level and devoid of ravines. The railroad at one time boasted that it was the straightest 40 miles of track in the world. The only other means of transportation at that time was by horse. Railroads at that time thought it prudent to locate towns about six to eight miles apart. This would allow farmers to deliver their produce to the railroad by horse and wagon. Four towns were eventually built along this line. Turton, Coral, later changed to Conde, Verdon, and Ferney. Mr. Rounds sold his title to this land to the Western Town Lot Company. They then plotted out a small town on this location and named it Coral. Mr. Rounds prior to the sale had built for himself a small shanty. He did not sell his shanty to the lot company so he is considered the first resident of Conde. Mr. Rounds also became one of the first business men in Conde as he built a barn the next year and started a livery business. He later promoted and ran a hardware store.

Conde is located in the northeast corner of Spink County. Four townships, Conde Beotia, Benton, and Olean surround this city and all four of them meet at the corner of Conde. On March 19, 1887, a post office was established in this small town of Coral. The origin of the name Coral is not known. Prior to that time, the local post office was located in a small village by the name of Rose eight miles west of the present site of Conde. It was no doubt that because of the railroad that caused Conde to prosper and the town of Rose to become extinct. On April 15, 1892, the town’s name was changed from Coral to Conde. It is said that the wife of a railroad official, herself of French decent, named the town Conde for the titled Conde’ family of France.

In 1906, the little city of Conde took a huge step forward. The Minneapolis and St. Louis, M & St. L as it was most often referred to, Railroad decided to run a line from Watertown to Aberdeen. This line would pass through Conde. Later that same year a new company named the Minnesota, Dakota and Pacific Railway decided to run a line from Conde west to the Missouri River to terminate at a little prairie town named LaBeau. LaBeau gained notoriety as a wild frontier town and became known, for a few years, as one of the larger cattle shipping points in the nation. This new railway also decided to extend the line from Aberdeen to Leola. This meant that all the freight from the towns on the line west of Conde to the river and north through Aberdeen to Leola would pass through the terminal at Conde. The small towns on the lines east, west and north to Aberdeen sprang up with the coming of this railroad. This makes Conde about 20 years older than those neighboring towns.

I am sure some of you will find it surprising to know that Conde became known as a railroad town. At that time railroads meant growth and wealth. I have been told that, at one time, there was a two passenger trains that came from Minneapolis to Aberdeen then back to Minneapolis every day. These passenger trains even had a dinning car and some carried Negro porters. Of course, this gave Conde that service too.

This passenger service was in addition to the many freight trains that also ran every day. At the beginning there was also a daily passenger train to the west and Conde also had passenger service to Groton and Doland every day on the Northwestern. Passengers meeting trains sometimes need places to spend the night. Salesmen, drummers, and other business men traveled by trains and would stop off in the small towns for a few days and then move on to the next town. They also required places to eat and sleep. There was a hotel on main street where the present Catholic Hall stands. It was known as the Koenig Hotel run by John Koenig. With the advent of all the rail traffic it became too small to accommodate this new influx of people. A new modern three story cement block hotel was built one block south of the M & St. L depot. I have come across some reference that says it was opened in 1908. This hotel was known as the Gibbons Hotel and later it became the Hewett Hotel and I think it was last owned by Anton Wettstein. This hotel had a dinning room featuring linens and silver with its own trademark. Silver creamers and sugar bowls were on its tables. It had a large spacious lobby with a large open staircase to the second floor. It had a bath on each floor and was advertised as fire proof.

The boom that came with the railroads did not last long. From the start the Minnesota, Dakota & Pacific was financed, controlled and operated by the M & St. L. The 115 mile railroad extension that ran from Conde to LaBeau rarely if ever showed a profit. In the beginning the company planned to cross the river and go on to the coast. The Milwaukee road at Aberdeen had not crossed the river as yet. Finances did not allow the expansion west at that time and soon the Milwaukee did cross the river and go on. There would not be enough business for two railroads that close together so that plan was dropped. With better roads and busses and even the airplane, passenger traffic dwindled. Large trucks started competing for the freight. It wasn’t long before the M & St. L dropped it passenger service on this line. They then added a passenger car to its freight trains and even later you could pay a small fare to ride on a bench in the caboose. LaBeau was largely destroyed by fire and train service dwindled. The rail line abandoned service from Akaska to LaBeau in 1924. Then In 1940 the rails from Conde to Akaska were taken up. Service continued from Conde to Watertown for some thirty years then it too was abandoned. The northwestern railway followed suit a few years later. Leaving Conde an inland town for the first time since 1886.

To be continued

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