Huntimer

Huntimer. . Charles B. Huntimer and his wife Ellen Sweeney, born to German and Irish immigrants, and their infant daughter, settled near this site in 1878. They traveled from Wisconsin to Dakota Territory in an oxen-drawn covered wagon. Some years later they were joined by relatives, friends, and former neighbors who also settled here., A majority of these pioneers were members of the Roman Catholic faith. Church services were held in family homes, but in 1886 a request was made for a priest to be sent to conduct Mass. Two years later St. Joseph's Parish was organized, and the first of three Catholic churches was built., In 1907 Charles Huntimer founded Charles City, and he became the first person to build an elevator next to the tracks of the new South Dakota Central Railroad. Other enterprises included a general store, a second elevator, stockyards, and the Milwaukee Railroad. Two years later the name of the hamlet was changed to Huntimer. For many years nearby rural schools provided for the educational needs of children from the village., St. Joseph the Workman Catholic Church and its cemetery are all that remains today of the long-vanished tiny village of Huntimer.