Talk:Pierre, South Dakota

Untitled
I added a image of the state capital building. JeffreyAllen1975 19:01, 4 December 2005 (UTC)

Pronunciation
"Peer" contradicts the pronunciation at List of names in English with non-intuitive pronunciations. Which is correct? Ardric47 04:34, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

It is most definitely "peer" Bk5545

I grew up here and I can assure you that it is pronounced "peer". Everyone in Pierre pronounces it that way and it is small enough to say this with certainty.


 * I'm presently residing here in Sioux Falls, and I can assure one & all that the people here do pronounce it like "peer" (or "pier"), rather than like the French name "Pierre." That, frankly, is not a question in dispute.  What I am wondering about is WHY it is pronounced that way?  Does anyone know?  Because the place was named after a Franco-American named "Pierre," after all. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 23:30, 7 June 2011 (UTC)


 * The mythology as I understand it, is that although Pierre was founded by the French, the Norwegians settled the town and the pronunciation stuck. Another key example of this in SD is the town of Sinai, pronounced SE-Ne-I. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Svlberg (talk • contribs) 17:06, 9 September 2012 (UTC)

Major transportation hub?
It is not served by an interstate highway, yet is a "major transportation hub"? Since it isn't a seaport, I guess it must get a lot of train, river boat, and air traffic. Is there even an airport there? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 199.20.2.1 (talk) 15:24, 12 February 2007 (UTC).

It has no train depot. There are facilities for grain loading but otherwise, trains don't stop there. There is no bus station. As the river is dammed at several locations, river traffic is out. As mentioned, there is no local interstate (I-90 is 30 miles away.) The small airport is underserviced and flights are frequently cancelled on short notice due to, among other things, lack of booking. With its remote location and lack of intersection, it would be reaching to refer to Pierre as a minor transportation hub, much less the hub of anything.


 * Its clearly not a transportation hub, major or otherwise. I'm not sure the state of South Dakota contains any location that could reasonably be termed a "major transportation hub," but if so, it ain't Pierre.  South Dakota is the only state in the Continental United States not served by Amtrack.  The closest major transportation hub to South Dakota, is probably Omaha, Nebraska. KevinOKeeffe (talk) 23:38, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

City Name
I talked with the former state historian (who is now retired and lived in Pierre almost all of his adult life) and he said that the city was so named not because of any French explorer, but because of the dock they had in the Missouri River. They spelled it "Pierre" to make it seem more sophisticated and foreign-like... but pronounce it just like any ordinary "pier".

This story needs additional documentation, but at least it gives us the grounds to take down the undocumented story in the lead paragraph. David Bergan (talk) 16:59, 22 December 2008 (UTC)

Pierre name origin.
I don't know about the present-day city of Pierre, but Fort Pierre across the river was named after Pierre Chouteau. He was a member of the Chouteau family who founded St. Louis, MO and had a booming fur trade business for 40 years before Lewis and Clark ever dreamed of the west. Their empire stretched to several trading posts in all parts of the west plus trade with Santa Fe, N.M.

Of course, the long-time residents of Pierre are entitled to pronounce it any way they wish, but it seems like a stretch to think the city is spelled "Pierre" and is named after a pier in the river. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Lady Historian (talk • contribs) 20:55, 3 May 2009 (UTC)


 * The article specifies that the Peer/Pier thing is only having to do with the pronunciation, not with the origin of the name. In other words, it never says that the town is named for a boat pier. However, it wouldn't be bad to add the name's etymology to the article. I'll work on looking for a reference for it in the next few days. (Also, for what it's worth, the "peer" pronunciation isn't just used by residents of the town; nearly all South Dakotans use that pronunciation as well.) 21:04, 3 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Oops, I see now that you were probably responding to the thread before this one, not to what was said in the article - struck some of my comments. Alexius  Horatius  22:46,

i know that pierre was not the capital when sd became a state it was yankton

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"access to an expressway"?....
The article says that Pierre "is one of four state capitals that is not served by an interstate highway, and it is unique among them in not having access to an expressway."

Of course it's true that there no Interstate highway in the city, but US highway 83 is a four lane divided highway the entire way between Pierre and I-90. I'm pretty sure US 83 would be considered an "expressway" - certainly at least as much, if not more so, than any road in Juneau, Alaska...And none of Juneau's roads connect the city with anywhere beyond its own vicinity - not to other regions of the state or country.

So while Pierre's position is perhaps somewhat isolated - at least by distance, if nothing else - it's not unprecedented. Jefferson City, Missouri, like Pierre, is not directly on an Interstate, but it's connected with I-70 by four lane highways, just like Pierre is with I-90. And the distinction is largely just academic. For a typical motorist, it matters very little whether the four lane divided highway they're driving on has an official "Interstate" designation.

In any event, I'm gonna go ahead and remove the part about it not having expressway access, as that's completely inaccurate. -2003:CA:8731:F0C3:6992:9233:8E83:E3B4 (talk) 21:56, 4 January 2022 (UTC)


 * I clarified that Pierre isn't served by the "Interstate Highway System" and cited a federal government source. I also deleted 5he subsequent statement about railways, which doesn't belong in a paragraph about cars and highways—we know the railways are still in service because the preceding paragraph is in the present tense. Matuko (talk) 02:56, 5 March 2022 (UTC)

"Pierre"
The usage of "Pierre" is under discussion, see Talk:Pierre (disambiguation).  Crouch, Swale  ( talk ) 22:37, 18 December 2023 (UTC)