Java, SD

Java is a town in Walworth County, South Dakota, United States. The 2020 census counted 121 residents. Java derives its name from Java coffee, and Coffee Town was an early variant name. Java received its name from railroad crews on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Line who would stop for coffee in the town prior to the railroad's relocation in 1908. In 1901, the first term of school was help in a building that had been relocated into town, serving twenty-three students, ranging in age from five to eighteen years.

In 1903, a frame school building was built on the site two blocks east of Main Street and was used until 1921, when the fireproof brick schoolhouse was constructed. The through line in Java is the way its history and present-day settings remain visible on the same map. Java makes the most sense through those concrete details, with its history still visible in the settings people use today.