Faulkton, with a population of about 800, is the county seat of Faulk County, a 1,008-square-mile county named for Territorial Governor Andrew J. Faulk. Pioneers from Iowa led by John A. Pickler founded the town in 1882, before South Dakota became a state, and when the town site was platted on Oct. 28, 1882, Pickler's claim lay on the south side adjacent to the town. Faulkton became the county seat in 1886 after the railroad bypassed LaFoon, the first county seat, which no longer exists. Near the geographic center of the county, Faulkton developed schools beginning with its first school in 1900, a new brick school in 1931 that housed all grades, additions by 1960 including an elementary building, lunchroom, and gymnasium, further additions in 1974, a Community Center and connected school facilities in 2004, and a new school opened at the beginning of September 2020 after a bond vote passed on December 18, 2018. The town's mascot changed from the Flicker-tails to the Trojans. Faulkton's first hospital, Providence Hospital, opened in 1914, and the current independent facility, designated as a Critical Access Hospital and Rural Health Clinic, gained a new facility in 2006 providing ambulance service and diagnostic lab and x-ray services, with 9,000 square feet added in 2018 to expand outpatient services for a total of 39,000 square feet. In a county where wild buffalo once roamed and cattle and sheep now graze, Faulkton is an agriculturally based community. The Agtegra Grain Elevator began as the Faulkton Farmers Elevator in 1915, and in 1958 a contract called for a concrete elevator with a capacity of 257,000 bushels at a cost of $216,000. Faulkton is known as "The Carousel City" for a restored 1928 C.W. Parker carousel restored by Bob Ketterling and now owned by the City of Faulkton, and the town also has many murals and a rich arts history.