Sioux Falls city (1990 pop. 100,814), seat of Minnehaha co., SE S.Dak., on the Big Sioux River; settled 1856, inc. as a village 1877, as a city 1883. Settlers abandoned the site in 1862 because of Native American raids, but with the establishment (1865) of Fort Dakota it was resettled. Named for the falls on the Big Sioux River (which furnish power), Sioux Falls is the largest city in the state and the commercial, industrial, and shipping center of an extensive agricultural area. It has long been a major livestock market and meat-processing center, but financial services and other industries are now also important. Signs; building materials; computers; hot-air balloons; plastic, paper, and wood products; consumer and electronic goods; sheet metal; machinery; foods; apparel; and transportation equipment are among its manufactures. Sandstone ( "Sioux Falls granite" ) is quarried nearby. The Univ. of Sioux Falls, Augustana College, a Baptist seminary, and the South Dakota School for the Deaf are there. Also in the city are the state penitentiary and the U.S. Geological Survey's EROS Data Center.

Sioux Falls: Introduction

Sioux Falls, seat of South Dakota's Minnehaha County, is the largest city in the state and the center of the metropolitan statistical area that includes Sioux Falls as well as Lincoln and Minnehaha counties. The city first grew during the Dakota boom years of the late nineteenth century as the arrival of the railroad made possible the nationwide transportation of granite quarried in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls has grown in many ways since then, and consistently tops the rankings by Forbes and Inc. magazines of top cities for business.