Union County, South Dakota Map
Explore Union County, South Dakota with this interactive street and satellite map. Browse all 7 cities and towns in Union County below.
Interactive Map of Union County, South Dakota
| County | Union |
| State | South Dakota (SD) |
| County Seat | Elk Point |
| Country | United States of America |
| Latitude | 42.737414 |
| Longitude | -96.609956 |
| Cities & Towns | 7 |
| Area Codes | 605 |
About Union County, South Dakota
Union County occupies the extreme southeastern corner of the state, serving as the singular point where the Big Sioux River meets the Missouri. Here, the landscape sheds the rugged, arid character of the western plains, favoring instead a mantle of rich, deep glacial till that yields to the persistent pressure of the plow. The terrain is defined by a series of high, flat bluffs that overlook the floodplains, where the air often holds a heavy, humid stillness during the late summer months. As the sun dips toward the horizon, the light catches the silt-laden water of the rivers, turning the channels into ribbons of hammered copper that slice through the dark, fertile loam of the river bottoms.
Union County emerged from the early territorial currents of the mid-nineteenth century, defined by the convergence of river traffic and the push of homesteaders seeking land along the water’s edge. The administrative center was established through a local ballot during an era when the county’s identity was being forged by the arrival of Scandinavian and Northern European pioneers. These settlers brought with them a pragmatic endurance, clearing the dense thickets and breaking the stubborn sod to impose a geometric order upon the wilderness. The county seat remains a modest focal point, holding the quiet weight of public record and the memory of those who first measured out these square miles with chain and transit.
Agricultural production dictates the pulse of the region, where the seasons are marked by the rhythmic turning of the soil and the eventual, golden height of the corn crop. Massive grain elevators rise above the horizon like monoliths, catching the first gray light of dawn and serving as the primary landmarks for those traversing the county’s grid of roads. Life here moves with the deliberate pace of a locomotive pulling through a crossing, dictated by the demands of the harvest and the maintenance of the fences that hold the cattle. The character of the place is found in the sharp, clean scent of crushed stalks after a frost and the way the wind sweeps unobstructed across the open fields, reminding the inhabitant that the land remains, in its essence, a vast and indifferent expanse that yields only to persistent, hands-on labor.
Cities and Towns in Union County
About This Union County Map Page
This page provides an interactive map of Union County, South Dakota alongside links to detailed street maps for 7 cities and towns. The county seat is Elk Point. Each city and town map page includes live weather, local news and precise GPS coordinates.
The Search Maps button below the county map opens USGS topographic maps and aerial imagery as base layers, with a labelled U.S. National Grid (USNG) overlay, a distance and bearing tool, and a single-fix GPS readout giving your USNG grid reference and latitude and longitude.
Location data is sourced from the USGS GNIS database and verified by coordinates, not name matching alone.
| Page generated | September 2026 |
| Location data | USGS GNIS database; coordinates matched to 2020 US Census records |
