Castlewood, SD

Castlewood is a Hamlin County city in northeastern South Dakota along the Big Sioux River and within the Watertown micropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 698 residents. Castlewood School District 28-1 serves students from pre-kindergarten through grade 12, making the school one of the town's main gathering points. The city also has a volunteer fire department and ambulance service, public library, clinic, assisted living, and a municipal park system. Memorial Park holds baseball, softball, football, playground, and camping facilities, while a nine-hole golf course and the Wellness Depot give residents additional places to exercise and meet.

Castlewood was platted in 1881, and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad built a branch through the Big Sioux Valley in 1882, with its turntable in town. The railroad made Castlewood an agricultural service point; the surrounding county remains farm country. The Castlewood Community Museum occupies the M.O. Hanson building and is maintained by the local historical society. Lake Poinsett is about nine miles south, adding boating, fishing, camping, and other water-based trips to the local map. Castlewood Days in August brings the civic calendar back to Main Street and the city park.