Yankton Press & Dakotan

About Yankton Press & Dakotan

On the banks of the Missouri River in southeastern South Dakota sits a newspaper that has published without interruption since 1861 — the Yankton Press & Dakotan, the oldest daily newspaper of the Dakotas. Founded as the Weekly Dakotian when the Dakota Territory was barely organized, it was already an established institution decades before South Dakota became a state. Through the Indian Wars, the Depression, the farm crises, and the digital revolution, the Press & Dakotan has remained the daily record of Yankton and southeastern South Dakota — a paper whose own history is inseparable from the history of the region it covers.

History and Founding

The Press & Dakotan was founded in the Missouri River community of Yankton in 1861, when the Dakota Territory was barely organized, as the Weekly Dakotian. Moving west, many early pioneers settled near the river, and the paper was there to serve them. In 1862, George W. Kingsbury, who had learned the printer's trade in Utica, New York, and worked in Kansas before coming to Dakota Territory, purchased the newly founded Weekly Dakotaian. He sold it in 1869 and launched the Yankton Press the next year. In 1875, the papers merged into the Daily Press and Dakotaian, with Kingsbury at the helm, and the first daily edition was issued on April 26, 1875 — making it the first daily newspaper in the Dakota Territory. Kingsbury edited the paper for 40 years, became widely known as the "Father of Dakota Journalism," wrote the five-volume History of Dakota Territory, and was elected to the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1935.

A 19th-Century Paper in the Territory

The paper's first decades were a whirlwind of frontier journalism. The present heading of the weekly edition of the Press and Dakotaian was adopted on December 4, 1873, and ownership passed through a succession of firms — including Clevenger & Barber, W. S. Bowen & Co., and Bowen & Kingsbury — before Kingsbury consolidated control. The paper recorded great national events from the end of the Civil War to the launch of the Space Shuttle, and kept its readers informed with firsthand accounts of the Indian Wars of the 1870s, the Depression of the 1930s, and the economic growth Yankton experienced in the 1990s. Fifteen other newspapers came and went in Yankton after 1861, but the Press & Dakotan was always present to witness and record South Dakota's history. The 1875 issues of the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotaian are preserved in the Library of Congress's Chronicling America collection, a resource for historians of the settlement era.

Ownership and Organization

Throughout its history, the paper has been a locally rooted enterprise. Nineteenth-century ownership moved among territorial printers and editors before stabilizing under Kingsbury's long editorship. In the modern era, the paper has been led by publishers including Adrian Pratt (named in a 1999 state filing) and Gary Wood (named in a 2018 filing), with Kelly Hertz serving as editor. The paper is headquartered at 319 Walnut Street in downtown Yankton — the address that has appeared on its official state filings for decades — and can be reached at (605) 665-7811. Ownership and circulation statements filed with the South Dakota Secretary of State document its continuous operation as a daily newspaper, publishing Monday through Saturday.

Coverage Area and Readership

The Press & Dakotan is a daily newspaper serving Yankton and southeastern South Dakota, within the Sioux Falls–Mitchell media market. It publishes five days a week. Historical circulation filings with the South Dakota Secretary of State record its reach: a 1999 filing showed a net press run of about 9,333 copies with paid circulation above 8,000, while a 2018 filing recorded total distribution of roughly 7,224 copies. Advertising trade sources have estimated the paper's readership at approximately 8,000 daily readers. The paper covers Yankton's city and county government, education, agriculture, business, and a dynamic sports market that features an NCAA Division I college athletic program, national and international competitions in archery, and more than 30 high school programs. Its website, yankton.net, extends that coverage online and through social media.

Newsroom and Editorial Approach

The Press & Dakotan operates a full-service newsroom at 319 Walnut Street in Yankton, employing reporters, editors, photographers, and page designers. As a small-market daily, its journalists typically cover both news and sports: general-assignment reporters are expected to handle page design in InDesign as well as photography, video, and social media. The paper's editorial approach has always been intensely local — covering school boards and county commissions, farm news, lake recreation at nearby Lewis and Clark Lake, and the high school sports that anchor community life across the region. It describes itself as "The Oldest Daily Newspaper of the Dakotas," and its institutional memory, with archives stretching back to the territorial era, gives its reporting a depth that few American papers can match.

Print and Digital Presence

The Press & Dakotan publishes in print daily except Sunday and holidays, with yankton.net serving as its digital home. The paper maintains an active presence on social media platforms including Facebook, X, and LinkedIn, where breaking news and community updates reach readers beyond the print edition's footprint. Like many small dailies, it has adapted to the digital era by integrating web publishing and social distribution into a newsroom built for print. Its historical archives remain a resource of national significance: digitized runs of the paper's territorial-era editions are available through newspaper archive services, making it one of the most complete continuous records of settlement-era Dakota life in existence.

Notable Coverage and Historical Moments

Few American newspapers can claim to have covered the end of the Civil War, the Indian Wars of the 1870s, the Depression of the 1930s, and the launch of the Space Shuttle — but the Press & Dakotan has recorded them all. Its territorial-era reporters chronicled the transformation of Yankton from a Missouri River landing into the capital of Dakota Territory, and later into a modern South Dakota city. The paper documented the region's agricultural booms and busts, the rise of the Missouri River dams and the recreation economy around Lewis and Clark Lake, and the astounding economic growth Yankton experienced in the 1990s. In June 1996, the paper's 135th anniversary was recognized on the floor of the United States Senate, where Senator Tom Daschle praised its "proven track record as a constant and reliable source for local information" and its "remarkable ability to change with the times."

Community Role and Impact

In southeastern South Dakota, the Press & Dakotan is more than a newspaper — it is the community's shared memory and daily meeting place. South Dakotans depend on their hometown newspapers for updated local information, and Yankton is no exception. The paper covers the civic institutions that define the city: the school district, Yankton County government, the regional medical center, the city's riverfront and recreation amenities, and the businesses of the historic downtown. Its coverage of high school sports — more than 30 programs — is the connective tissue of Friday nights across the region. For a community of Yankton's size, the daily paper remains the authoritative record of births, deaths, marriages, honors, and controversies: the first draft of the town's history, written every day for over 160 years.

Recent Developments

In the 21st century, the Press & Dakotan has continued to adapt while maintaining its daily print schedule in an era when many small papers have cut back to fewer days or gone digital-only. The paper has embraced multimedia reporting, with staff expected to produce video and social content alongside traditional reporting and page design. It has navigated the advertising pressures facing all community dailies while preserving its newsroom and its downtown Yankton headquarters. As it moves deeper into its second century and a half of continuous publication — more than 160 years since the Weekly Dakotian first appeared — the Press & Dakotan stands as a living link to the territorial frontier: a newspaper that was there when the Dakota Territory was barely organized, and that continues to serve the public interest of southeastern South Dakota every publishing day.