Milbank

Milbank, city, seat (1883) of Grant county, northeastern South Dakota, U.S. It lies on the South Fork Whetstone River, about 120 miles (200 km) north of Sioux Falls and 10 miles (16 km) west of the Minnesota border. Sioux Indians inhabited the area when settlers began arriving in 1877. The community was founded in 1880 with the arrival of the railroad. Originally called Milbank Junction—for Jeremiah Milbank, director of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad—it later had its name shortened. Milbank’s economy depends on agriculture (including dairy products, livestock, corn [maize], soybeans, wheat, rye, and oats), granite quarrying, business services, insurance, telemarketing, warehousing, and food processing. The city is the birthplace of American Legion Baseball (1925). Hartford Beach State Park is nearby on Big Stone Lake, part of the South Dakota–Minnesota border. Inc. village, 1881; city, 1894. Pop. (2000) 3,640; (2010) 3,353.