Terraville 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 founded in 1877 as a

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 ...

and later evolved into a town. It was purchased by the

Homestake Mining Company Homestake Mining Company was one of the largest gold mining businesses in the United States and the owner of the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota. Founded in 1877, it was acquired by Barrick Gold in December 2001. Homestake was the longest- ...

and was destroyed in 1982 to make way for a new mine.

History

In the 1870s, four men–Moses and Fred Manuel, Hank Herney, and Alex Engh–entered the area on the hunt for gold. They each filed a claim in Bobtail Gulch on February 21, 1876. That spring, they discovered a rich

lode In geology, a lode is a deposit of metalliferous ore that fills or is embedded in a fissure (or crack) in a rock formation or a vein of ore that is deposited or embedded between layers of rock. The current meaning (ore vein) dates from the 1 ...

, and on April 9, 1876, they located it under the name Homestake. The claim was later bought by men from California, who formed the Homestake Mining Company. Used as the first headquarters of the Homestake, Terraville was founded in 1877 and became a home for the miners–and their families–of the local mines, including the Caledonia, Terra, and Deadwood. A tunnel was built by the company to connect Terraville to Lead. This tunnel was used both to carry ore from the Homestake Mine to the smelters in Terraville and also as a path for residents to travel between the towns. In 1880, 775 people lived in the town, making it the fifth-largest town in the

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 ...

at that time. During Terraville's golden years, 220

stamp mills Stamp or Stamps or Stamping may refer to: Official documents and related impressions * Postage stamp, used to indicate prepayment of fees for public mail * Ration stamp, indicating the right to rationed goods * Revenue stamp, used on documents to ...

were in operation. The town grew to include several stores; bars; churches, the most notable and longest-surviving of which was the Terraville Methodist Church; a schoolhouse; a hospital; boarding houses; and several houses. 280 steps connected various parts of the town and the surrounding area and mines. Water rights were secured for the town by the company. In 1900, approximately 700 people used the town's

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional ser ...

. The Homestake Mining Company later moved its headquarters and mining activities to Lead. By the 1970s, most of the residents of Terraville traveled to Lead for shopping and work. Terraville didn't have a mayor or law enforcement, except for the county sheriff. In the summer of 1982, the post office closed, the town was destroyed, and the 723 residents were forced to move when the Homestake Mining Company decided to create an

open cut mine Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow. This form of mining ...

at Terraville. The Homestake called it the Terraville Test Pit Project. Every building, most of them at least 100 years old, was torn down; at 102 years old, the Terraville Methodist Church was the oldest operating church west of the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

at the time of its demolition, and plans to make it a historical landmark had emerged. Today, only remnants of the roads remain. An annual reunion for the former residents of Terraville has been held every year since at least 2001 in Deadwood.

Geography

Terraville is located in the

of Lawrence County, South Dakota. It was built on the peak of a mountain between Lead and

Central City In urban planning, a core city, principal city metropolitan core, or central city, is the largest or most important city or cities of a metropolitan area. A core city is surrounded by smaller satellite cities, towns, and suburbs. A central city ...

, just above the Homestake Mine. Deadwood Gulch and the ghost town of

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincol ...

are also nearby.

Notable person

Ruth Mary Reynolds Ruth Mary Reynolds (February 29, 1916 – December 2, 1989) was an American educator, political and civil rights activist who embraced the ideals of the Puerto Rican Nationalist Party. She was incarcerated in ''La Princesa'' Prison for sedi ...

(1916-1989), born in Terraville, American teacher and political and civil rights activist

References

{{authority control Ghost towns in South Dakota Populated places established in 1877 Mining communities in South Dakota Geography of Lawrence County, South Dakota 1877 establishments in Dakota Territory