The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1902-04-11
VALUES ARE INCREASING.
Phenomenal Advance in and Prices
In Gregory and Turner Counties.

Prenonenal Advance in Land Prices
In Gregory and Turner Counties.
Gregory county is experiencing one
Of the greatest real estate booms eve,
known in the history Of the state.
Land that went begging for buyers at
so per acre last yea is now being sold
at from SIS to $35 per acre. and the
prospects are good for a continued ad-
vance In prices for q year to come, at
least. The county Is full Of land buy
ers from Iowa. Nebraska, Minnesota
ard states further east. The county is
practically new having first been set
tied In 1891, and, while $35 per acre for
Western land mag seem rather high to
some people, 1t must be remembered
that Gregory county has never yet had
a failure of rop and that last year,
when the greater portion OF the coun-
try was drought-stricken. Gregory pro-
duced a bountiful harvest, corn yield
Ing an average Of thirty-ive bushels
per acre and wheat thirteen bushels.
Gregory county soil Is inferior to none.
being a dark, rich, sandy loan with a
clay subsoil, and with the same condi-
tons prevailing. produces as good
crops as the States of Iowa n Illinois.
Bonesteel, the prospective terminus OF
the F. E. & M. v. railroad, which Is
now building into the county, has
grown from a village of but a dozen
houses in 1895, to a town OF over 200
buildings at the present time, with q
population nearing the 500 mark. Lots
are selling at from $50. for residence
sites, to $500, and in some cases, $500.
for business lots. Considerable small
grain has been sown, and the soil was
never in better condition to terminate
the seed.
Several transfers of real estate have
been made within the past few days at
prices ranging from $25 to $35 per acre.
The Gregory county Real Estate ASSOC
citation, a firm locate dat Bonesteel,
sold three farms last elk at an av-
erage price Of $28 per acre. The firm Is
doing an enormous business. having
two solicitors continually on the road
and agents in several states sending
BUYERS to them.
Considerable rain has fallen here In
the past few days, and the ground is
saturated to a depth og five feet. EV-
cry acre Of cult!vable and will be put
into crop this season, ard with favor
able conditions Gregory county will
have the greatest harvest this coming
fall in the history Of the state.
The investor who put his money into
South Dakota lands a few years ago
finds himself rich. Five years ago $40
to $25 per acre was considered an aver
age price for land in Turner county
To-day nothing In that vicinity can be
bought for less than $50 an acre. An
eighty-acre tract neal Centerville was
recently sold for $3.50 per acre., the
seller making a profit Of a little over
$4,000 in six years. Another deal in that
county gave a profit of $4,000 on the
sale Of six quarter-sectfons. j. 8.
Thomas Of Centerville bought a quar-
ter-section and sold it the next day at
an advance of $500. . Transfers with
profits are almost a daily occurrence.
and the skywaard tendency of land
values. with the rush Of immigration
indicates that the investors with the
money can yet reap a rich reward. and
make a much safer investment than in
oil wells. gold mines or stocks.