Travel with a Wiseguy visits Jones County, shares history on Youtube

John Wise featured Jones County in a video on his popular travel and road trip project called Travel with a Wiseguy on Youtube. He started this project in 2020, focusing on small towns, ghost towns, and historic places.

Wise visited Jones County on July 27, 2026. He starts the video off on the county line of Jones County and Stanley County near Capa, sharing some brief Jones County history. He shares how there’s only been about a dozen post offices in the county’s history, how one of the first documented American explorers through the area was Jedediah Smith, South Dakota’s statehood in 1889, and the extension of the Chicago Northwestern Railway in 1903 that ultimately led to the establishment of Murdo in 1904 and later Jones County was formed in 1916 with Murdo as the county seat. Jones County is the most recent county created in South Dakota and it was named for Granville Winnington Jones, a South Dakota Lawyer, minister, and Chautauqua lecturer. It is the least populated county in the state of South Dakota with a population of 917 in the 2020 census.

The first town Wise visits is Capa. He spoke on the origin of the name and the birth of the town being because of the railroad. He then visits the Capa Bridge that was built in 1919 on his way to Van Metre. In Van Metre, he finds there is really nothing left of the township except for the railroad tracks going through. Van Metre had a post office up until 1960. The township was named after Arthur C. Van Metre, an early Dakota pioneer who also helped found the town of Vermillion.

Wise then made his way towards Murdo, stopping at the North Dam to take some scenic shots of the area. Once in Murdo, he shared more history of the town, including how it got it’s name “The Magic City”, and how it was named after cattleman Murdo MacKenzie. Interstate-90 was built in the 1960s, causing Murdo’s highest population in the ‘70s of 865 people. In the 2020 census, that number is now 475. He briefly talked about Murdo’s biggest attraction, the Pioneer Auto Museum, and said he would do a separate video on the museum.

He then headed east towards Draper. The draper site was chosen as a settlement along the railroad in 1905 and officially platted in 1906. Draper was officially named a town in 1910. It was named after C. A. Draper, a Milwaukee railroad official. Draper has a population of just 46 according to the 2020 census.

On his way to Westover, Wise took a detour to the Freier Round Barn, a registered historic site located northeast of Draper. The barn was build in 1918 from a pre-cut kit ordered by catalog. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.

In Westover, Wise points out the White River, which was the reason for the town settlement. It had a post office in the 1890s until 1957.

Wise then made his way over to his final stop in the ghost town of Okaton. He points out where the railroad would have been and the various “ghost town” buildings created by previous citizens.

When talking about the experience, Wise says: “It was a really fascinating day exploring all around Jones County. Of course the museum in Murdo is spectacular, but I loved getting out on the backroads and learning about old communities like Capa, Draper, and Okaton. I’ve been pleasantly surprised how well the video has been received with almost 150,000 views. Obviously, there are a lot of people interested in South Dakota history and these small communities.”

Throughout his video, John Wise features many overhead shots of the beauty Jones County using his drone. The video can be watched on Youtube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yCkOhDebPI

The video is titled “Only 917 People Live in Jones County, South Dakota.

At the end of his video, Wise comments on the merry-go-round of the Murdo City Park. His series frequently includes highlights of historic and rare carousels and merry-go-rounds during his road trips. He comments that Murdo’s merry-go-round spins well, but needs a paint job! 7.3 out of 10.