Crooks, South Dakota, New Hope, Renamed
Near Sioux Falls, South Dakota
The community west of Sioux Falls was called New Hope when David O. Crooks arrived in Dakota Territory in eighteen seventy-three and claimed a homestead here in Minnehaha County. He came by ox team with his family and built a sod house as first shelter, and over the next few years enough neighbors moved in to organize a farming settlement. The first post office opened in eighteen seventy-six with Ole Nelson as postmaster.
For nearly three decades the community kept the name New Hope. In nineteen oh four the name was officially changed to Crooks, honoring a local man named Crooks. Some sources say it was a politician, while South Dakota Magazine says it was the pioneer settler himself. Sources are not clear. Either way, a town that began with the optimistic name New Hope has been Crooks ever since.
