Fedora, SD

Fedora began as a railroad-and-post-office settlement west of Roswell. In 1881 the post office was established on the Milwaukee Railroad under the name Van Horne; a year later it moved west and became Miner Center. The town was platted in 1894, and a petition changed its name to Fedora in 1897. Local history gives two versions of the name, both tied to the fedora hat: one to a merchant's stock, another to a railroad executive's daughter.

Fedora's school and business history show how substantial the settlement once was. An artesian well, new lots, newspapers, a consolidated school, and a four-year high school appeared during the early twentieth century; in 1908 alone, half a dozen businesses and more than 20 houses were built in Kieffer's Addition. The high school closed in 1966 and the consolidated school in 1970. Today the unincorporated community remains a Miner County rail townsite documented by its school and county historical records. Its early growth is recorded through the artesian well, Kieffer's Addition, and the schools that once served surrounding farms.