Ghost Town
Guide to the Ghost Towns of
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Treasures Ghost Town USA Column Index for South
Dakota. |
Like most of the states
in America’s heartland, South Dakota is filled with ghost town sites, ghost
towns, and near ghost towns. During the later 1870s, a major gold rush to the
Black Hills usurped Native American lands, and problems developed between the
Indians and the American interlopers.
After the gold rush subsided in the early-mid 1880s, and the worst of
the armed confrontations between the Native Americans and new settlers was
resolved, farms exploded across the prairie.
These in turn caused towns to pop up, and railroads to reach across
the landscape. A large portion of these towns were established along the
railroad corridors, and spaced from six to ten miles apart. According to old
sources, that is because most farmers could drive their farm wagons to and
from town in one day. During the past 100 years many of those towns have
disappeared, along with many of the railroads. This is linked to more
efficient transportation via cars and trucks. Wicked winters, valuable
farmland, and lack of government owned property, except in the southwestern
part of the state have also contributed to the demise of many of South
Dakota’s ghost towns. Again as in many areas, the owners of property seldom
like to keep abandoned and dilapidated structures around, as they have to pay
taxes on them. This has contributed to the demise of many small villages,
which have since reverted to farmland. In addition to farming and railroad
ghosts, remember the Black Hills Gold Rush contributed hundreds of mining
camps and scores of larger towns, many of which are long gone. There were also scattered military posts,
stage-coach stops, and trading posts.
South Dakota is fertile ghost town and metal detecting territory. If you know of any ghost
towns in South Dakota that are not listed here, or know the current status of
towns listed with little information, please contact us… The Black Hills area
ghost towns were featured in our November 2003 Ghost
Town of the Month.
PLEASE NOTE: Where photos are indicated thusly (PHOTO!), please use your
browser’s “BACK” button to return to this page. More photos will be added over time. |
CASTLETON
|
Pennington Co. |
Dating to 1876 this class A
placer mining camp endured several boom-bust cycles as the placers faded, the
railroad came and went, and a dredge reworked the placers. Nothing from the old days remains. See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. |
CENTRAL CITY
|
Lawrence
Co. |
Located on US 14a, midway between Lead and Deadwood, this
historic gold mining town has a number of interesting, picturesque buildings,
including what looks like an old hotel and a fire station. The rushed atmosphere of Deadwood isn’t
here, nor is the bustling mining town life of Lead.
(1995) |
CHANCE
|
Perkins Co. |
The post office in this tiny town was established in 1902. Early photos show a decent number of
commercial buildings. It is located on
Thunder Butte Creek, about 20 miles southeast of Bison. |
DEADWOOD
|
Lawrence
Co. |
Deadwood is a
much-alive, historic community filled with ghosts of the past, and is a must
stop for anyone exploring this part of the country and is located on US 85, 10 miles south of
I-90 at EXIT 17, at a point seven miles east of Spearfish. See our DEADWOOD
page for additional details. This is
one of the towns featured in my newest book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM. |
HARDING
|
Harding Co. |
This faded agricultural town is on a small road about 30 miles
southwest of |
HOMESTAKE MINE
|
|
Located outside Lead, in the upper end of the
Black Hills, this was See our Homestake
Mine page for
additional details. This is
one of the towns featured in my newest book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM. |
LODGEPOLE
|
Perkins Co. |
Located on SH 75, about 10 miles south of |
|
Harding Co. |
On US 85, 21 miles north of |
MEADOW
|
Perkins Co. |
This small town of a dozen or so people sits along SH 20, 12
miles east of Bison. A 1910 photograph
shows about 20 commercial buildings along the main street. |
MYSTIC
|
Pennington Co. |
Located three miles north of Castleton. See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. This is
one of the towns featured in my newest book, GHOST
TOWNS: Yesterday & TodayTM. |
NAHANT
|
Lawrence Co. |
North of Rochford on Forest Road (FR)
17 just north of the county line, is the junction
with FR 206 and the site of this old lumbering and mining town. See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. |
OREVILLE
|
Pennington Co. |
The site of a 1930s era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp
is on US 16/385 just north of the Pennington Co. line, 5.3 miles south of See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. |
|
Perkins Co. |
In 1990, 50 people lived in this little town located on SH 20,
17 miles west of Bison and 37 miles east of |
RALPH |
Harding Co. |
Again as is so typical in this part of the state, this ghost has
a cluster of occupied structures consisting of a combination post
office/general store/gas station along with several other buildings. |
REDIG
|
Harding Co. |
Located on US 85, 50 miles north of |
REVA
|
Harding Co. |
Located on SH 20, about 23 miles east of |
ROCHFORD
|
Pennington Co. |
Located south of Lead
and west of See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. |
SORUM
|
Perkins Co. |
Sorum was founded in 1908, and by 1980 the
population was only five. It is
located southwest of |
St.
ONGE |
Dodge |
This faded farm town of 100 or so folks is on SH 34, 13 miles
southeast of |
TIGERVILLE
|
Pennington Co. |
Located 5.2 miles northwest of See our BLACK
HILLS page for additional details. |
ZEONA
|
Perkins Co. |
This tiny town had a maximum population of six, and is located
just east of the county line 25 miles south-southwest of |
MORE INFORMATION
Historians estimate that there may be as many as
50,000 ghost towns scattered across the Gary B. Speck Publications is currently in
process of publishing unique state, regional, and county guides called The Ghost Town
Guru's Guide to the Ghost Towns of *** ™
These original guides are designed for anybody
interested in ghost towns. Whether you are a casual tourist looking for a new
and different place to visit, or a hard-core ghost town researcher, these
guides will be just right for you. With over 30 years of research behind
them, they will be a welcome addition to any ghost towner's
library. Thank
you, and we'll see you out on the Ghost Town Trail! For
more information on the ghost towns of SOUTH DAKOTA, contact us at Ghost
Town E-mailers, PLEASE NOTE: Due
to the tremendous amount of viruses, worms and “spam,” out there, I no longer
open or respond to any e-mails with unsolicited attachments, OR messages on
the subject lines with “Hey”, “Hi”, “Need help”, “Help
Please”, “???”, or blank subject lines, etc. If you do send E-mail asking for
information, or sharing information, PLEASE
indicate the appropriate location AND
state name, or other topic on the “subject” line. THANK
YOU! :o) |
IMPORTANT These listings and historical vignettes of ghost
towns, near-ghost towns and other historical sites in SOUTH DAKOTA
above are for informational purposes only, and should NOT be construed to grant permission to trespass,
metal detect, relic or treasure hunt at any of the listed sites. If the reader of this guide is a metal detector
user and plans to use this guide to locate sites for metal detecting or relic
hunting, it is the READER'S
responsibility to obtain written permission from the legal property owners.
Please be advised, that any state or nationally owned sites will probably be
off-limits to metal detector use. Also be aware of any federal, state or
local laws restricting the same. When you are exploring the ghost towns of SOUTH
DAKOTA, please abide by the Ghost Towner's
Code of Ethics. |
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FIRST POSTED: January 12, 2002
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