Spokane, South Dakota | |
---|---|
Ghost town | |
Coordinates: 43°50′29″N 103°22′48″W / 43.8413775°N 103.3799128°W[1] | |
Country | United States |
State | South Dakota |
County | Custer |
Founded | 1890 |
Elevation | 4,521 ft (1,378 m) |
Demonym | Spokanite |
Time zone | UTC-7 (MST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
GNIS feature ID[1][2] | 1262481 |
Spokane is a ghost town located in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. Founded in 1890, it was a mining camp in the Black Hills until its abandonment in the mid-20th century.
Spokane was named after Spokane, Washington, by a local silver mine.[3]
Spokane was originally intended to be a gold mining town,[4] but the Spokane Mine also produced silver, lead,[4] beryl, copper, mica, hematite, graphite, and zinc. Both the town and mine were founded in 1890.[5] 1927 was one of the town's best years, when the town's profits totaled $144,742. The town turned this money into a school, and several new miners entered the area.[4]
The mine soon began to fail again, and it closed in 1940. By this decade, the town was already largely abandoned. In the 1950s, a few companies unsuccessfully tried to reopen the mine. The mine's buildings eventually burned down, and others that were deemed unsafe were destroyed by the U.S. Forest Service. A watchman remained in the town until the mid-1980s, and after that, the town was officially abandoned.[4]
Spokane was located in the Black Hills in Custer County, 16 miles (26 km) east of Custer.[1] The former townsite sits near the three-way junction between Iron Mountain Road, County Road 330, and U.S. Route 16A. Only a few buildings remain, including the barn, watchman's house, school, and remnants of the mine.[5]