The History of Potter County Potter County was created in 1875 and organized in 1883. It was originally named Ashmore County in honor of Samuel Ashmore of Elk Point, a member of the Legislature in 1872-73. The county name was changed to Potter in 1877 in honor of Dr. Joel A. Potter, a member of the Legislature that year.
Potter County is located in north-central South Dakota, in a rural region of farms and small towns.
In common with most of central South Dakota, the county saw only limited Euro-American habitation until the late nineteenth century, when the construction of railroad lines into the area spurred a great period of settlement into the region. Most of the counties new settlers claimed 160-acre tracts of the regions fertile prairie and established small grain farms. They enjoyed general success, and by the end of the century nearly all of the arable land in the county was devoted to agriculture. Several small communities developed during the period, serving as business and community centers for the farmers. Gettysburg quickly became the largest, due both its central location and its position on the county's primary railroad route.