Mission Hill kids could get an ice cream cone. In addition, there was an implement store and a hardware store. In later years, modern transportation and the changing economic conditions soon brought changes to Mission Hill. The traveling medicine show, movies on the walls of store buildings and travel by train to area towns all disappeared from the community. Yet Mission Hill still persisted. Today, the little town on the bluff is still a beautiful place to live and raise a family. Mission Hill Mission Hill is a town in Yankton County, South Dakota, United States. Area: .33 sq. mi. Elevation: 1,198’ Founded: 1913 Population: 173 (2016) Zip code: 57046 Area code: 605 Mission Hill was laid out in 1894. The town was named for a nearby hill where a church stood. A post office called Mission Hill has been in operation since 1892. Mission Hill, sometimes called the little town on the bluff, is overlooking the Missouri and James River valley. Established in the early 1890’s, Mission Hill continued to grow. Sitting just east of Mission Hill, SD is one of the oldest surviving Lutheran Churches in South Dakota, Vangen Lutheran Church. She was built in 1896, although the weather vane is said to have been dated back to 1869. This church is on the National Registry of Historic Places as of 1980. Today they still have special holiday services here. The newer version of the church sits on the west side of town. During the late twenties and early 1930’s there were quite a few business places on the main street in Mission Hill. A grocery store run by Rasmus Pederson and a drugstore where the local 18vYANKTON COUNTY GUIDE 2019 Merkel Electric, Inc dba Johnson Electric Rural • Residential • Commercial • Electrical • Telephone • Overhead Wiring • Trenching • Bucket Truck Reaches 80’ • Digger Truck “Fast Courteous Service” 500 W. 12TH ST., YANKTON 605-665-5686 Rick Merkel • Ben Merkel Chris Merkel