Coming home to Aberdeen, S.D.
A small, safe, and surprising city on the Plains
Between a short stay in Maine and the long haul on Guam, our family spent four years in Aberdeen, South Dakota.
As we were preparing to move there, I began the search for homeschoolers, a church, a temporary place to stay, and a real estate agent. I called the Chamber of Commerce too.
In just a few conversations, I learned that Aberdeen was the kind of town people “went home to.”
“We lived in a city, but when our daughter was born, we came home to Aberdeen,” one said. “It’s a great place to raise your kids.”
And that was true. It is a great place for kids.
Although the third-largest city in the state, Aberdeen was small—at the time we lived there in the 1990s, it was about a five-mile square. If you went more than three miles in any direction from the center of town, you were out of town. And there would be little to see except corn or soybeans until you arrived at the next farm-equipment dealership at the edge of the next small town.
It was quaint.
Most of the older homes featured big, inviting porches. A children’s play park north of town called “Storybook Land” gave the folks something to boast about. At night, the traffic lights along the main thoroughfare turned to blink mode.
And it was safe.
In Aberdeen, middle-schoolers could deliver the local paper at 5 a.m. and a mom didn’t need to worry. I knew the boys could complete their routes without encountering anyone or anything untoward.
The good folks of Aberdeen claim rights to the memory of L. Frank Baum, author of The Wizard of Oz, who reportedly begin writing the story when he was a newspaperman there. (I read that Baum would often tell stories to the children who would gather in his house. One evening when he needed a place name, he looked at his file cabinet that was labelled O-Z, and thus the Land of Oz was born.)
In addition to being the home of Oz, it is also the Hub City, so named because in the era of railroads, all the major rail lines intersected here. And it’s in the heart of pheasant-hunting country.
While most of my nomadic kids claim Guam as home, Aberdeen holds a special place in the hearts of my three oldest. When the oldest son became weary with the crime and congestion of Milwaukee, he packed up his family and moved them home to Aberdeen.
This week, I am on Grammy duty for that son and his wife, so I, too, am back home.
Although Aberdeen hasn’t expanded its edges much in 25 years, within its boundaries there are many more businesses, particularly more restaurants (and so many coffee shops!).
Storybook Land continues to thrive, and the Land of Oz, which was just a few static displays and a carousel, is now a complete theme park within a park.
There are many more major retailers; the hometown grocery stores have dramatically expanded; the local ice-cream stand is still going strong, and the Capitol Theater (the marquee of which was refurbished when I was in town) is now home to a very active community theater.
But, as often happens when big retailers move in, local businesses did take a hit. As I walked the length of the Main Street business district with my grandchildren, I saw too many empty storefronts among the businesses and boutiques that have found their niches there.
Sadly, the paper that made me a columnist is no more. The building is now a church.
Overall, though, Aberdeen is still that place we left in tears 26 years ago.
A safe, quaint place.
Where pheasants cross the road.
And lights blink yellow all night long.