Ortley, SD

Ortley was laid out in 1906 in the southwest corner of Roberts County after C. E. Anderson purchased land beside the railroad. The first townsite was called Anderson Townsite, but the name changed to match the surrounding township. Within a few years the railroad had brought a depot, stockyard, grain elevators, stores, and churches, and an independent school district followed. Those rail-era businesses belong to Ortley's historical record, while the town remains a named place on the Roberts County road grid, with its origin visible in the township name and old settlement plan.