A group of men from Newark, NY staked the first claims on the present site of what was once the village of Newark, SD, on April 16, 1883.
By May 25 of that same year the township's claims were pretty well taken. As time went on many businesses flourished. At one time there were two elevators, a lumber yard, a hotel, theater, three grocery stores, two banks, a church, two garages, an implement dealer, two saloons, Post Office, flour mill, creamery, drug store, undertaking parlor and a doctor.
During the depression, the banks closed. Many people moved away and business places closed their doors. The school kept getting smaller and the church closed. The good houses were sold for taxes and moved to other towns. Many of the buildings burned or were torn down, and the town died.
