Freeman, SD

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Before Hutchinson County this area used to be Jayne County until 1871, Armstrong County until 1879. In 1870 there were only 37 people living in Hutchinson County. In 1881 there wasn’t a single house in Freeman. Will Robinson, state historian, say’s “Freeman was supposed to be named Menno because of the Mennonite people, but when railroad officers nailed up the signs they accidentally switched them”.

A different story told by Dr. A.A. Wipf states, in 1879 the railroad company wrote the checks for the land they were buying from Fred Waldner, David Kleinsasser, and Mike Tschetter. Mr. Waldner said “jetzt bin ich ein freier Mann” meaning, “Now I am a free man”. The railroad official said, “What an appropriate name for a new town.” Fred Haar was in business with International Harvester and John Deere but was forced by the company to choose one. In the early days bandits robbed a stagecoach near Silver Lake. The sheriff tracked the bandits to a livery barn in Freeman but the money was never found.

The Shamber basement was dug by hand in 1900, soon after there was a flood. The basement filled with water and workers caught fish out of the basement. When digging the basement for Cor Trust Bank a natural stream was found and a full basement couldn’t be installed. The earliest chislic stories are Jake Huber selling chislic behind his garage, chislic served at the Zickrick saloon, and Freedom Lunch. In 1900 land sold for $15 an acre. The snow in the winter of 1936-1937 blocked Highway 81 from Silver Lake to Yankton for 6 weeks, 81 was still gravel. There are more German Dialects spoken within 50 miles of Freeman than anywhere else in the country. In 1930 when the Meridian Highway was built it was supposed to be run on the west side of Freeman connecting to the curves south of Meridian corner.