De Smet, South Dakota, is known for being the one-time home of author Laura Ingalls Wilder. Today, with a population of just 1,100 people, the little town still boasts plenty of devoted citizens. The proof? In 15 years, they raised over $15 million for community projects.
In 2013, the De Smet Economic Development Corporation (EDC) had raised more than $3 million for a new community and event center. The funds came mostly from local donors.
A display in the center features the names of donors of $1,000 or more. Then-EDC director Rita Anderson recalls how one local family wanted to be part of the project so badly that it sent in $25 per month, sometimes in coins, for three years.
The family members “were living on the margins, but . . . they wanted their name up there,” Anderson says.
Still, the project was $17,000 short the day the De Smet City Council met to consider approving it.
At the last moment, an appliance store owner and a cattle rancher came forward. They covered the deficit. The community center was finished in 2015.
“The passion people feel here is really remarkable,” Anderson says. “There’s always been a feeling in De Smet that if you’re going to do anything, you’re going to go over the top and make it better than any other community around.”
With the event center success, officials began another fundraising project to turn downtown De Smet into a cultural and historical hub for locals and tourists.
They built a welcoming arch over Main Street. It is large and high enough to grab the attention of highway travelers. They added way-finding signs, hanging flower baskets, and a sculpture trail with some pieces of art inspired by Wilder’s history or books. The project also includes benches, bike racks, and security cameras.
Now underway is a trail system leading to Big Slough and Silver Lake. Both water bodies feature in books written by Wilder. Five of her nine beloved Little House books are set in the De Smet area.
Anderson and others are lobbying lawmakers to designate the area as the Laura Ingalls Wilder State Park. Anderson also promotes the idea of a bicycle trail that would follow highway U.S. 14 across the state.
She hopes donations will largely fund these ventures.
As De Smet native and donor Greg Carmon says: “Everybody . . . [wants] De Smet to do better, and be better, and that kind of gets infectious.”
Why? The people of De Smet came together to accomplish a big goal. They show that caring for your town or city and caring for your neighbors go hand-in-hand.
Recommended Reading: For more about life in South Dakota, read Little Town on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder.
