Whitewood lies some nine miles northeast from Deadwood at the verge of the Whitewood Valley. It was a 'gateway' between the gold and the grain belts of the Black Hills. Nestled into the foothills of the northeastern Black Hills, between Sturgis and Spearfish on Interstate 90, Exit 23, the community was home to 927 people, at the time of the 2010 Census.  With a median age of 38, the population of Whitewood is growing. Since the 2000 Census, it has posted a growth of 9.8 percent.  In the city of Whitewood, there are 1,545 people per square mile.

The majority (91.9 percent) of people in Whitewood are white.  American Indians constitute 3.7 percent of Whitewood’s population and 2.5 percent are Hispanic. In 2010, 3.2 percent of the population reported belonging to more than one race.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1887, the Pioneer Townsite Company made available Whitewood’s first business and residential lots. The Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley railroad extended its line north from Rapid City that year, temporarily making Whitewood the end of the line. The railroad bypassed well-established Crook City by a couple miles. Many of those who originally bought Whitewood lots were Crook City residents ready to abandon the older town in hopes of finding business profits stemming from rail service. Whitewood remained the line’s end for three years and prospered as a shipping point for locally produced livestock, wool, fruit, and milled grain.

	LABOR DAY PICNIC The C.&N.W. railway had a unique coaling station and a round house depicted here.  In this view, the road had seven tracks - main tracks and switch - which indicates Whitewood's importance as a shipping point.

According to an early history, "The town is nestled among the foothills of the great system of high altitude and is thus afforded a fine protection from the extremities of winter. There are many strong inducements to home-seekers to seek a location either in Whitewood for business or in the vicinity for the advantages in farming and grazing." Whitewood was also where people from across a wide rural region came to collect shipped parcels, greet family and friends who arrived by train, or to ride the rails themselves.

That activity slowed after the railroad extended lines to Deadwood and Belle Fourche in 1890, according to author Rick Mills. Still, train service remained a key to most of Whitewood’s development well into the 20^th century. In 1904 the 29-room, sandstone Lane Hotel opened, catering primarily to railroad travelers.

In 1938, as automobile travel was starting to eclipse rail travel, the Federal Writers Project’s South Dakota Guide described Whitewood as “a picturesque village, so named because of the extensive growth of aspen and birch in the vicinity.” The Guide reported Whitewood’s population then as 421. Later in the 20^th century lumber processing and livestock feed production emerged as important industries. Whitewood lost prime alfalfa acreage to Interstate 90’s construction in the early 1970s, but the highway seemed a natural fit for a town always associated with transportation.

Whitewood Elementary typically serves about 120 students, kindergarten through sixth grade. Older students attend public school in Sturgis, seven miles away. No onsite after school programming is available at Whitewood Elementary, but students can take a bus for those activities in Sturgis. A special needs preschool service is also offered at Whitewood Elementary. Whitewood PTO information found here. Scores for student performance under No Child Left Behind are available from the South Dakota Department of Education. 

Whitewood was incorporated as a city in 1888, about six months after the first homes and businesses were built – or were relocated by mule from Crook City.  Today Whitewood is divided into three wards. A mayor is elected by city-wide vote every two years, and each ward elects two members for a six-member city council. City council members are elected for two-year terms, as well.

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The recently rejuvenated Whitewood Chamber of Commerce promotes the community as an attractive, centrally-located Black Hills residential option. With more than 70 members, the chamber also coordinates annual community celebrations and advances business development. Members are hopeful that commercial development will take form on lots adjacent to the Interstate.