Novak, also known as Cindell Spur, is a
ghost town
Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to:
* Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned
Film and television
* ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser
* ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...
in
Lawrence County,
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...
, United States. It was an early
mining camp
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the economic via ...
.
History
Novak was founded next to
Greenwood, as the latter began to decline, in the early 1900s. Investors in the
Safe Investment Mine and Mill settled in Novak. Safe Investment grew to have a bad reputation, as investors realized that they were actually losing money. In 1903 and 1904, the Novak mine began to develop. By 1906, they had paid off their debt. As the mining company grew, so did the town. In 1907, there were no
saloons
Saloon may refer to:
Buildings and businesses
* One of the bars in a traditional British pub
* An alternative name for a bar (establishment)
* Western saloon, a historical style of American bar
* The Saloon, a bar and music venue in San Francisc ...
or dance houses.
Gambling
Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of value ("the stakes") on a random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy are discounted. Gambling thus requires three el ...
occasionally went on in the
boarding house.
The
Black Hills & Fort Pierre Railroad built a branch to the town.
There were three houses built by the mining company and several other
cabins, and a school that served six students. Novak used the cemetery in Greenwood instead of building its own. A nearby creek was used for water.
The mine eventually ran its course and was no longer profitable. After the mining operations shut down, most of the residents left Novak. The school closed and the remaining children traveled to Benchmark for school. Until about the 1980s, Novak had two permanently occupied houses, but soon after that, the remaining residents either died or left, and Novak was officially abandoned.
In 1974, the only remains of the town were two buildings and a large meadow.
Geography
Novak is located in the northern
Black Hills
The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black ...
in
Lawrence County,. Founded on the bank of Boxelder Creek, it is located along what is today Nemo Road. It is 2.5 miles away from Benchmark
and three miles northwest of
Nemo.
See also
*
Black Hills Gold Rush
The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876–77.
Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the early ...
*
Nemo, South Dakota
Nemo is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 546 at the 2010 census. Nemo has been assigned the ZIP code of 57759.
According to the Federal Writers' Project, the origin of the name Nemo ...
References
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Ghost towns in South Dakota
Geography of Lawrence County, South Dakota
Mining communities in South Dakota