Raesly House
Second and East Rd., Plankinton, SDThe Raesly House is located just east of Plankinton, Aurora County, South Dakota. The house is significant as a fine example of a hipped roof with lower cross gables subtype of the Queen Arne Style.
Aurora County was created in 1879 and organized in 1881. The Arikara followed by the Sioux were the last two American Indian groups to live in the area. Treaties in 1851, 1858, and 1867 ceded all lands east of the Missouri River in South Dakota to the U.S. government with the exception of the set reservations. With the railroad came waves of immigrants who poured into the area during the Great Dakota Boom of the 1880s in pursuit of cheap land. Agriculture remains the primary economic activity of the area.
The Raesly House was built by Marian and Josephine Raesly in circa 1883. The house was in the Raesly family for over 100 years. David and Ruth Merrill purchased the property in 2003.
The Queen Anne style was most popular from roughly 1880 through the turn of the century, although it did persist into the 1900's. The style is typified by irregular, steeply pitched roofs, asymmetrical facades and decorative elements such as differing shingle patterns used to avoid flat walls. The Raesly House is a typical representation of the Queen Anne style.
The house exhibits many of the characteristics associated with the Queen Anne style. It has the irregular roof, asymmetrical porch, and a two-story bay window. The house has seen few alterations over time and those that have occurred have been mostly cosmetic.
The Raesly House is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion C, for its architectural value and significance in Plankinton, South Dakota.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.