Yankton School District 63-3

A history of the Yankton School District cant really be written apart from that of the Yankton community. A close connection between community and school has been maintained throughout the life of the district. Life in Yankton has always revolved around the Missouri River. Native Americans followed the rivers flow to their destinations centuries ago. They named the land E-Hank-Ton-Wan meaning people of the end village. Yankton is rich in history and a city of firsts. It was the first capital of the Dakota Territory, which in the 1860s included both Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana. Our story as a district began on February 2, 1875, with an act of the legislature that created the Yankton Board of Education. Yankton High School became the first high school in Dakota Territory. The first college followed soon after. Yankton is also fortunate to have a leading medical center, which began when the Benedictine sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery arrived in 1887. Besides the monastery, the nuns...