Local Resources
VISITING VIBORG AND VICINITY
LODGING ACCOMMODATIONS
The closest and most convenient accommodations for either an overnight stay or multiple days lodging is the Still Waters Retreat Center at the Swan Lake Christian Camp which is located 3 miles north and 1¼ miles west of Viborg.
Each of the 14 hotel rooms contains a private bath and either 2 queen beds, or 1 queen bed and a bunk bed. Motels include Beresford (22 miles from Viborg), Vermillion (32 miles), Yankton (34 miles), Freeman (30 miles), or Sioux Falls (43+ miles).
CHURCHES
United Methodist
Our Savior's Lutheran (ELCA)
First Baptist
Bethany Lutheran (AFL)
Church of the Nazarene
Viborg is home to five Protestant Christian churches, four of which began as rural churches serving the Danish settlers long before the founding of the town. The first to organize was the Baptist church in 1873 (first building was constructed in 1878 and destroyed in a prairie fire in 1889). The 2nd was the Methodist in 1874 (first building constructed in 1875) followed by the Lutheran in 1876 (first house of worship completed in the fall of 1888). The Methodist was the first to move their house of worship into Viborg in 1894 followed by the Baptist in 1905.
Theological differences split the Lutheran church (called the East Swan Lake or Bethania/Bethany) into two factions in the early 1890’s – the Inner Mission (traditional) Danish Lutherans and the Grundtvigian Lutherans. The traditional group maintained control of the property 3 miles west of town and eventually constructed a house of worship in Viborg in 1915. The Grundtvig church met in homes, Dania Hall near Center Point (6 miles west and a mile north of Viborg in the southwest corner of the intersection), or the lodge hall of the Modern Woodmen of America until construction of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in 1910 on the highest point of Viborg. All four churches used the Danish language during the early years of their existence. All four have also made additions to and renovations to their original structures over the passing years.
The Baptists constructed a new brick, Roman temple-style church in 1917 to replace their second building from 1889. The Viborg Church of the Nazarene was organized in 1927 and closed in 1939. A Nazarene church in rural Freeman was moved into Viborg in 1946 and a new building constructed in 1993. Several other churches serve Viborg-vicinity residents including Spring Valley Lutheran, St. Boniface (Idlewilde) Catholic, and Immanuel Free Lutheran in the rural area and Good Shepherd Catholic in Centerville and the Seventh Day Adventist in Hurley.
For more complete histories of these and other churches, see the Viborg Centennial Book published in 1992 with the church histories section beginning on page 197. Worship service, Sunday School and other activity times can be found in the Turner County New Era newspaper or on individual church websites or Facebook pages.
ENTERTAINMENT
Viborg is home to one of the longest-and-continuously-running movie theaters in the state. The only times the Dream/Glud/Lund Theater has briefly closed is for renovations. Now digital in its operations, it still shows first-run features and includes reasonable prices for both movies and concessions. They are always interested in community volunteers. Visit their website for additional information on how to volunteer.
The ever-growing collection in the Viborg Public Library has recently expanded into a new building.
The city maintains three small public parks with picnic and playground facilities and a memorial park featuring a monument with the names of all area veterans from the Civil War to the present.
ORGANIZATIONS
DINING LOCALLY
Viborg is served by two locally-owned full-service restaurants with menus providing a choice of just about anything to please one’s palate. Both feature a salad bar and a variety of beverages as well as take-out service.
The Kountry Kookin’ Café, located at 106 North Main Street (west side in the center of the block), is open for breakfast and noon meals and specializes in home-style cooking with daily dinner and soup & sandwich specials.
The Daneville Inn, located at the southeast corner of the downtown 4-way stop, is open for noon meals and evening repasts. Even though it specializes in a variety of pizza offerings, pasta dishes, and scrumptious steaks, it also has a varied menu of other main course meals and a wide selection of sandwiches and side dishes. The Daneville Inn is also home to the Viking Pub in a separate part of the building.
Viborg's Pump ’N’ Stuff Convenience Store offers a variety of take-out or eat-in pizza and sandwiches.
PIONEER MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND HEALTH SERVICES
Viborg has had a hospital since the late 1930’s. The original hospital was in a 3-story house in the residential area of North Main Street. It was condemned as inadequate and outdated in the mid-1950’s which led to the money-raising efforts that resulted in the building of Pioneer Memorial Hospital in 1957.
Since its original construction, the hospital has expanded to include a nursing home containing a memory care wing, independent living apartments, assisted living apartments, a medical clinic, a dental clinic, and the county health center. The original 1957 structure has been converted into outpatient and rehab facilities and a new hospital wing added. It is by far the largest employer in Turner County.
Visit their website for more history of the medical facilities and health-related offerings of Pioneer Memorial Hospital and Health Services of Viborg (a Sanford facility) as related to clinic physician staff and other medical personnel, medical services, outreach services, facility details and job availability descriptions.
BUSINESSES AND OTHER SERVICES
Viborg abounds in its offerings to citizens in town and the surrounding area. The town has a fully-stocked grocery store, pharmacy, hardware store, variety dollar store, flower shop, convenience store, lumber supply company, two restaurants, a tavern, two auto engine repair shops one including a towing service, two auto body repair and paint shops, insurance agencies, a travel agency, a weekly newspaper and regional shopping advertiser, a laundromat, two welding firms, a full-service gas station, a cabinet/furniture making shop, a custom embroidery/quilt shop featuring sewing and alterations, a grain elevator-agronomy center-fertilizer plant, two storage units, a sweet boutique, and an arts and crafts store.
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
Viborg offers a veterinary clinic/animal health supply center, a chiropractic/massage rehab clinic, a law office, several day-care centers, a funeral chapel, and a branch office and service supply warehouse of a regional electric cooperative.
SCHOOLS
The Viborg Public School and the Hurley Public School (8 miles north) consolidated for the 2012-2013 school year. The elementary school (kindergarten through 4th grade) and the high school (9th through 12th grades) are located in the Viborg building that opened for the 2000-2001 school term. The middle school (5th through 8th grades) is located in the Hurley building. The Viborg-Hurley District also includes operating elementary and middle schools in the Cameron Hutterite Colony located west and north of Viborg.
Active organizations include the Viborg Volunteer Fire Department, the Viborg Ambulance Service, an American Legion post, the Dirt Divas garden club, the Viborg Food Pantry, the Danish Brotherhood Society lodge, the Danish Viking Days Committee, the Viborg Community Foundation, the Viborg Development Corporation, and the Viborg Ministerial Association.