List of ghost towns in South Dakota

The founders of the town of Minnesela standing on the balcony of the Minnesela Hotel in 1889.

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This is an incomplete list of ghost towns in South Dakota, United States of America.

Classification

Rockerville in 2006.

Ghost towns can include sites in various states of disrepair and abandonment. Some sites no longer have any trace of civilization and have reverted to pasture land or empty fields. Other sites are unpopulated but still have standing buildings.

Barren site

• Sites no longer in existence or have been destroyed
• Deserted or barren
• Covered with water
• Reverted to pasture
• May have a few difficult-to-find foundations/footings at most

Neglected site

• Only rubble left
• Buildings or houses still standing, but majority are roofless

Abandoned site

• Building or houses still standing but all abandoned
• No population, except possibly a caretaker
• Site no longer in existence except for one or two buildings

Ghost towns

A through B

The Volunteer Fire Department in Ardmore in 2010.

Sign marking the location of Burdock in 2013.

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Addie Camp	Pennington	1892-1917	Neglected	Also known as Kennedyville, Canadaville, or Addie Spur.
Albany	Lawrence
Allen's Camp	Pennington
Allerton	Lawrence
Alta	Pennington	1870s-?	Neglected	Also known as Altamine.
American City	Lawrence		Barren	The exact location is unknown due to flooding that has destroyed all traces of the town.
Anchor	Lawrence			This town was in the Ragged Top mining district. Not to be confused with Anchor City.
Anchor City	Lawrence			This was an early mining camp close to Deadwood. Also called Anchor; not to be confused with Anchor.
Annie Creek	Lawrence			Also called Stanley City or Reliance.
Ardmore	Fall River	1889-2004	Abandoned
Argyle	Custer		Barren
Arpan	Butte
Astoria	Lawrence	1887-?	Neglected
Athboy	Corson		Abandoned
Atlantic City	Custer		Barren	The exact location of the town and its mine are a mystery.
Bakerville	Custer		Barren
Ball	Butte
Balmoral	Lawrence	c. 1897-1910s	Neglected	Possibly an earlier name for Cyanide, which was in the same mining district.
Bangor	Walworth		Barren
Bear Butte	Lawrence			Not to be confused with Bear Butte, the butte located to the southeast of the town site. It is also called Bare Butte.
Bear Gulch	Lawrence	c. 1870s-?		Not to be confused with the Bear Gulch (Elkhorn) settlement in Pennington County.
Bear Gulch	Pennington		Barren (submerged)	Submerged under Pactola Lake. This was a stop along the Black Hills & Western Railroad. Not to be confused with the Lawrence County settlement by the same name. It is also called Elkhorn.
Bear Rock	Custer			An early placer mining camp. It housed the first post office in the Black Hills, which was only a cave where mail was delivered.
Beaver City	Lawrence	01/1878-?	Barren
Bernardsville	Lawrence	c. 1877-?	Barren	Exact location unknown, but is somewhere one-half mile east of the Wyoming state line.
Besant	Lawrence		Neglected	Also called Besant Flats or Besant Park.
Big Bottom	Meade	1878-1887	Neglected
Bismuth	Custer		Neglected
Black Fox	Pennington
Blacktail	Lawrence
Bloomington	Brown	?-1877	Barren	Was destroyed by outlaws.
Bluevale	Pennington	?-c. 1900	Barren
Bon Homme	Clay		Abandoned
Boughton	Lawrence		Barren
Boulder	Lawrence	?-1880s	Barren	Also called Boulder Park.
Brashville	Lawrence	February 2, 1881-June 1882		The dates listed are the dates that the post office was in operation.
Brennan	Pennington			Also called Warbonnet and Siding Eleven.
Buena Vista	Fall River		Neglected
Buena Viste	Lawrence		Barren
Bugtown	Custer	?-1880s	Barren
Burdock	Fall River		Neglected	Also called Argentine.

C through D

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Calcite	Meade		Barren	Also called Quarry.
Canyon City	Pennington		Neglected
Carbonate	Lawrence	c. 1881-1939	Neglected	The town was mostly abandoned in 1891, but the town's last resident died in 1939. It was also called West Virginia, Virginia, Carbonate Camp, Carbonate City, and Crow Creek Carbonate Camp.
Cartersville	Lawrence			Not to be confused with Carterville. Also called Lincoln.
Carterville	Pennington	1879-?		Not to be confused with Cartersville. Also called Carter.
Carwye	Meade		Barren
Cascade	Fall River	1888-?	Abandoned	Also called Cascade Springs.
Castle Rock	Butte	1910-?
Castleton	Pennington	1876-1880, 1890s	Neglected	The town was abandoned twice: first in 1880, when the mines failed; and again in the 1890s.
Castleville		1877-1879	Barren	The location of the town is unknown other than that it was located in or around the Black Hills. It could have also been located in Wyoming.
Centennial City	Lawrence		Barren	Existed around 1876.
Centennial Park	Lawrence		Barren	Had a population of 52 in 1900.
Channing	Lawrence		Barren	It was a very small town that was only shown on one map. It was about 3 miles northwest of Nemo.
Cheyenne Falls	Fall River		Barren	A very small community that never had a large population. It had a post office in 1900.
Coal Springs	Perkins
Cold Springs	Custer		Abandoned	This mining town once had a school and cemetery.
Conata	Pennington
Copper Camp	Pennington	c. 1900-?
Creston	Pennington		Neglected
Cyanide	Lawrence		Neglected	Was in the same mining district as Balmoral, Preston, and Dacy.
Dacy	Lawrence	?-c. 1915	Barren	Was in the same mining district as Balmoral, Cyanide, and Preston.
Dansby	Custer	?-1886	Barren	Had a maximum population of 50-75 people. Also named Danby.
Deerfield	Pennington		Barren (submerged)	Also called Mountain and Mountain City. The town site is underwater.
Deermont	Butte
Devoe	Faulk
Diamond City	Lawrence		Barren	Existed around 1880. The surviving ruins of the town were torn down in 1967.
Dumont	Lawrence	1890-?	Barren
Dyce	Moody			Historic post office[1]

E through H

The former site of East Sioux Falls in 2009.

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
East Sioux Falls	Minnehaha
Elizabethtown	Lawrence			Later incorporated into Deadwood.
Elmore	Lawrence		Abandoned
Emmet	Union	1871-?	Neglected
Englewood	Lawrence			Also called Ten Mile Ranch.
Etta	Pennington		Barren	Also called Etta Camp.
Eureka	Pennington		Barren	Was mentioned in an 1879 newspaper article. Its location is unknown. Not to be confused with Eureka in Pennington County.
Evans Place	Lawrence		Barren	Its exact location is unknown.
Everts	Walworth		Barren
Fair View	Pennington		Barren	Existed around 1887.
Farmingdale	Pennington		Abandoned
Firesteel	Davison	1875-?	Barren
Flatiron	Lawrence	1890s-?	Neglected	Not to be confused with the other Flatiron. It was a successful mining town from the 1890s until about the 1930s.
Flatiron	Lawrence	c. 1921-?	Barren	Not to be confused with the Flatiron which was much bigger and existed long before this town.
Flora	Custer	1890s	Barren	Was a tin mining town. Its exact location is unknown.
Floral	Pennington		Neglected	Also called Florence. Not to be confused with Florence, South Dakota located in Codington County; or the similarly-named ghost town Flora.
Folsom	Custer			Was a gold mining town.
Forest City
Fountain City	Lawrence			Also called Mountain City. Was incorporated into Deadwood.
Gayville	Lawrence			Also called Troy, it was an early placer mining camp that had a significant population, but was later absorbed into Deadwood. Not to be confused with the Gayville in Yankton County.
Gibralter	Meade	1877-?	Barren	Also spelled Gibraltar.
Glendale	Pennington	1880s-?		Also called Otho.
Golden Centre	Lawrence
Golden Summit	Pennington			Also called Summit. Not to be confused with Summit, also located in Pennington County.
Golden West	Pennington	c. 1900-c. 1920	Barren
Gold Hill	Lawrence
Gopher	Corson	1910-?	Barren
Gothland	Union
Grandview	Pennington		Barren
Greenwood	Lawrence	1885-1912	Barren	Also called Laflin. The last house was torn down in 1971.
Gregory	Lawrence	1879-?	Barren	Also called Montana City. Not to be confused with the Gregory, South Dakota located in Gregory County; or the other Montana City in Lawrence County.
Griggs	Lawrence		Barren
Hagginsville
Hammer	Roberts	?-1930s	Neglected
Harney	Pennington	1876-1900	Abandoned	Not to be confused with the military encampment by the same name in Custer County.
Hayward	Pennington	11/1876-?	Abandoned	Also spelled Hayword.
Heppner	Fall River
Hillhead	Marshall	1915-1970s	Neglected	Also called Hilltop or Airmont.
Hillside	Butte		Neglected
Hill Side	Union
Hooker	Turner		Abandoned
Hoover	Butte
Hornblende Camp	Pennington	1899-1915	Barren	Also called Horneblende.
Huseboe	Corson		Neglected	Also called Lightcap.
Hustleton	Pennington			Existed around January 1877.

I through L

Storage building in Igloo, photographed in 2008.

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Igloo	Fall River	c. 1942-after 1970	Abandoned	Also known as the Black Hills Ordnance Depot, it was a residential community located near a munitions storage and maintenance facility.
Imlay	Jackson	1907-?	Neglected
Ivanhoe	Custer		Barren	Not to be confused with Yamboya, which was also called Ivanhoe but was a separate community.
Junction City	Custer	c. 09/1879-c. 1881	Neglected
Kiddville	Custer	before September 20, 1879-?	Neglected
Lakeview	Todd		Neglected	Only the school and church are still in use by the farming community, but the actual town no longer exists.
Lancaster City	Lawrence		Barren
Lauzon	Custer		Neglected
LeBeau	Walworth		Barren (submerged)	It is submerged beneath Lake Oahe.
Lentz	Lawrence
Lexington	Lawrence		Barren
Lithia	Fall River		Barren	Most likely submerged beneath Angostura Lake.
Lone Camp	Lawrence		Barren	Was an early mining camp. The exact location is unknown, but it was around Maitland and Carbonate.
Lookout	Pennington	c. 1884-c. 1890	Neglected	The residential community of Fort Lookout.
Lost Camp	Lawrence		Neglected
Luffman	Marshall		Barren

M through O

Aerial view of Manchester after the tornado outbreak that destroyed the town in 2003.

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Macy	Butte
Maitland	Lawrence	1877-c. 1915	Neglected	Also called Midland, Garden City, and Sherman.
Maitland	Fall River		Barren
Manchester	Kingsbury	June 29, 1881-June 24, 2003	Barren	The town was already in decline when it was completely destroyed during the 2003 South Dakota tornado outbreak. All that remains are the foundations of the buildings.
March
Marietta	Fall River		Barren
Martin Valley	Custer
Mason	Butte
Maurice	Lawrence			Now the site of the power plant for the Homestake Mine.
Maverick	Pennington		Neglected	Existed around 1891.
Mayo	Custer		Neglected
Melvin	Custer
Merritt	Lawrence		Barren
Middle Boxelder	Lawrence		Barren	This town's existence was proven by early photographs. However, its exact location is unknown.
Minneapolis	Pennington		Barren
Minnelusa	Pennington		Barren	Existed in 1920.
Minnesela	Butte	1882-1901	Barren	The first county seat of Butte County, it was notable for its rivalry with the neighboring town of Belle Fourche in the 1890s.
Mogul	Lawrence
Montana City	Lawrence	1879-?		Not to be confused with Gregory, South Dakota, which was also called Montana City and was also located in Lawrence County. Montana City later became part of Deadwood.
Montezuma	Lawrence
Moon	Pennington		Neglected
Morganfield	Union
Moss City	Custer			Its exact location is unknown. It was most likely in eastern Custer County. It had a post office during the Black Hills Gold Rush days, but its population was never determined.
Myers City	Pennington		Neglected	Also called Myersville.
Mystic	Pennington		Abandoned	Also called Sitting Bull.
Nahant	Lawrence	1890-?	Barren
Nasby	Lawrence		Barren	Existed around 1910 as a booming logging camp.
Nerve City	Lawrence	1896		Located about 1,500 feet (460 m) north of Balmoral.
New Berlin	Lawrence	1878-?	Barren
New Chicago	Lawrence	c. 1875-1877	Barren	Was a camp later absorbed into Maitland, South Dakota.
Newton City	Pennington	c. 1878-?	Barren
North Galena	Lawrence		Barren	The exact location is unknown, but it was probably somewhere around Galena. It was also called Carter City.
Novak	Lawrence		Neglected	Also called Cindell Spur.
Nugget City	Lawrence		Barren	Was in existence before or around 1898.
Oak Flat	Lawrence		Barren
Ochre City	Pennington		Barren	Was a booming mining community around 1879.
Okobojo	Sully		Neglected
Old Ashton	Spink		Neglected
Ordway	Brown
Oro	Lawrence			Also called North Lead.
Oreville
Otis	Custer		Barren	The Custer State Game Lodge was built on the site of the town's mill.

P through R

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Pactola	Pennington		Barren (submerged)	Submerged beneath Pactola Lake.
Pearl City
Pedro	Pennington
Perry				Also called Lewisville.
Pine Grove	Lawrence		Barren	The only indication of the site is that it was within twenty miles of Deadwood.
Pinkerton	Pennington		Barren
Placerville	Pennington		Barren
Pluma	Lawrence		Abandoned
Poorman's Gulch	Lawrence		Barren	An early mining camp near Central City. Its exact location is unknown.
Postville	Meade		Barren	Was in existence around 1891.
Potato Town	Lawrence		Barren	Also called Potato Creek, after the town it was located on.
Preston	Lawrence	c. 1897-?	Neglected	Was in the same area as Balmoral, Dacy, and Cyanide.
Purewater	Todd		Neglected
Quartz City	Lawrence	01/1878-?	Barren	Due to the inaccuracy of the maps drawn of the area, its exact location is unknown.
Queen Bee	Pennington	1880s-1930s	Barren	A large fire destroyed all remains of the town in the 1930s.
Ragged Top	Lawrence	1880s-c. 1915	Neglected	Was also the name of the school district and mining district in which Preston, Cyanide, Dacy, and Balmoral were also included.
Reausaw	Lawrence		Abandoned	Also spelled Reavsaw.
Red Fern	Lawrence		Barren
Redwater	Butte		Barren	Existed around 1921.
Reed	Butte	1905-1910	Neglected	Only the school house remains.
Richmond	Lawrence	c. 1880-c. 1945	Neglected
Rockerville	Pennington	1870s-1930s	Abandoned	The site has been rebuilt and is now a tourist attraction. Also called Rockville.
Rosedale	Pennington			Existed around 1935.
Rossville	Pennington			Was in existence around 1883.
Runkel	Meade	c. 1900-?	Barren	The only real marker of the town is an apple orchard that still stands today. Also spelled Runkle.

S through T

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Sacora	Meade		Barren	Existed around 1891.
Safe Investment	Lawrence			Also called Spruce.
Sampont	Butte
Saratoga	Lawrence		Barren
Sheep's Tail	Lawrence	before 1900	Barren
Sheridan	Pennington	fall 1875-after 1930	Barren (submerged)	Also called Golden City, it was submerged under Sheridan Lake.
Silver City	Lawrence			An early mining town on Bald Mountain. Not to be confused with the Silver City in Pennington County, which is still active.
Slabtown	Lawrence			The town only survived for two years. Its post office was later moved to Novak.
Snoma	Butte	1885-?	Barren	The town was once home to the Snoma Finnish Cemetery, an NRHP-listed place. It was probably intended to be called Suomi or Suoma.
South Bend	Lawrence			It had a population of 116 in 1880, but when it was abandoned, the residents moved to Central City.
Sparta City	Lawrence	1878-?	Barren	Its exact location is unknown.
Spokane	Custer	c. 1890	Neglected	A few homes still stand. Mine was filled in by USFS
Spring-On-The-Hill	Custer		Barren
Squaw Creek	Lawrence		Barren	Its exact location is unknown.
Stamford	Jackson	1909-1934		Burned down 3 times before its closing.
String Town Logging Camp	Lawrence	1899-1908
Summit	Custer
Summit	Lawrence
Summit	Pennington
Sylvan City	Custer		Barren
Teddy Bear	Pennington		Neglected
Teepee			Barren
Tenderfoot	Custer		Neglected
Terraville	Lawrence	1877-1982	Barren
Terry	Lawrence	1876-?	Barren
Texana	Lawrence
Texas Town	Union		Barren	All that remains is a cemetery. It is also called Texas.
Tigerville	Pennington	1878-1885	Neglected	Also called Tiger City.
Tinton	Lawrence	?-1950s	Neglected
Tepee	Pennington		Neglected
Travare	Roberts		Neglected	Was the original county seat of Roberts County.
Trojan	Lawrence	?-1959	Neglected	Also called Portland.
Twilight	Butte	1917-?	Barren
Two-Bit	Lawrence	1876-1900s	Barren	Also called Two Bit.

V through Z

Name	County	Dates	Status	Notes
Victoria	Lawrence			Not to be confused with the Pennington County location.
Victoria	Pennington			Not to be confused with the Lawrence County location.
Virginia City	Lawrence			Also called Virginia Moll. Not to be confused with Carbonate, which was alternatively called West Virginia or simply Virginia.
Volunteer	Meade		Barren	Existed in the early 1900s.
Wealthy	Pennington		Barren
Westford	Custer
Weta	Jackson	1907-?	Neglected
Whitetail	Lawrence			Existed around 1900.
Whitewood City	Lawrence		Barren	Not to be confused with Whitewood, which is still an active community.
Williamsburg	Lawrence		Barren	The exact location is unknown. The town existed in the early days of the Black Hills Gold Rush.
Winship	Brown	1889-?	Barren
Woodville	Lawrence
Yamboya	Custer		Barren	Also called Ivanhoe. Not to be confused with the other settlement called Ivanhoe, which was also in Custer County but was a different town.
Young	Pennington		Barren	It was mentioned in a newspaper in fall 1879.

Notes

1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Dyce, South Dakota

References

• Engebretson, Pat; Heck, Kay; Herrett, Helen (1989). A History of Butte County, South Dakota. Dallas, TX: Curtis Media. ISBN 0-88107-139-0.
• Parker, Watson; Lambert, Hugh K. (1974). Black Hills Ghost Towns (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: The Swallow Press. ISBN 0-8040-0637-7.
• Klock, Irma H. (June 1975). Yesterday's Gold Camps and Mines in the Northern Black Hills (1st ed.). Lead, SD: Seaton Publishing Company.
• Wolle, Muriel Sibell (1966) [1953]. The Bonanza Trail: Ghost Towns and Mining Camps of the West (5th ed.). Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press.
• "Ghost Towns in South Dakota". Ghost Towns. Retrieved September 28, 2013.