Deadwood, South Dakota Deadwood, South Dakota Modern Deadwood viewed from Mount Moriah Modern Deadwood viewed from Mount Moriah Location in Lawrence County and the state of South Dakota Location in Lawrence County and the state of South Dakota State South Dakota Possible locale of the initial Nuttal & Mann's saloon where Wild Bill Hickok was killed, 624 Main Street, Deadwood A photograph of Deadwood in 1876.
General view of the Dakota Territory gold rush town from a hillside above.
Deadwood about 1890s Deadwood (Lakota: Owayasuta; "To approve or confirm things") is a town/city in South Dakota, United States, and the governmental center of county of Lawrence County.
The entire town/city is a National Historic Landmark District, for its well-preserved Gold Rush-era architecture.
The settlement of Deadwood began illegally in the 1870s on territory which had been granted to American Indians in the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie.
However, in 1874, Colonel George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills and announced the discernment of gold on French Creek near present-day Custer, South Dakota.
This announcement triggered the Black Hills Gold Rush and gave rise to the new and lawless town of Deadwood, which quickly reached a populace of around 5,000.
In early 1876, frontiersman Charlie Utter and his brother Steve led a wagon train to Deadwood including what were deemed to be needed commodities to bolster business.
Madame Mustache and Dirty Em were on the wagon train and set up shop in what was referred to as Deadwood Gulch. Demand for women was high and the company of prostitution proved to have a good market.
Madam Dora Du - Fran would eventually turn into the most profitable brothel owner in Deadwood, closely followed by Madam Mollie Johnson.
Deadwood became known for its lawlessness, amid which time murder was common and punishment for murders not always fair and impartial.
The town attained further notoriety for the murder of gunman Wild Bill Hickok.
Constitution's prohibition against double jeopardy, because of a ruling that Deadwood was an illegal town in Indian Territory and thus lacked the jurisdiction to prosecute or acquit Mc - Call.
As the economy changed from gold panning to deep mining, Deadwood lost its rough and rowdy character and advanced into a prosperous town.
In 1876, General George Crook pursued the Sioux Indians from the Battle of Little Big Horn on an expedition that ended in Deadwood and is known as the Horsemeat March.
For years, it was the longest continuously operating gold mine in the United States.
On September 26, 1879, a fire devastated Deadwood, destroying more than three hundred buildings and consuming the belongings of many inhabitants.
Romans took a gamble and established the "Pilcher Electric Light Company of Deadwood" on September 17, 1883.
Deadwood had electricity less than four years after the invention, less than a year after commercial service was started in Roselle, New Jersey and which was around the same time as much larger metros/cities around the country. A narrow-gauge barns , the Deadwood Central Railroad, was established by resident J.K.P.
A portion of the barns between Deadwood and Lead was electrified in 1902 for operation as an interurban passenger system, which directed until 1924.
Wong Fee Lee appeared in Deadwood in 1876 and became a dominant merchant.
The quarter's inhabitants also encompassed African-Americans and Americans of European extraction. The state sponsored an archeological dig in the region during the 2000s. Nearly 3,600 volunteer and experienced firefighters, including personnel from the Homestake Mine, Ellsworth Air Force Base, and the South Dakota National Guard's 109th Engineer Battalion worked to contain the fire, which resulted in a primary county-wide economic downturn. Most of the town's buildings were assembled before 1900, with only modest evolution since then. The town continued to diminish through the 1960s and 1970s. Interstate 90 bypassed Deadwood in 1964 and its brothels were shut down after a 1980 raid. A fire in December 1987 finished the historic Syndicate Building and a neighboring structure. The fire fueled interest in the region and spurred the "Deadwood Experiment", in which gambling was tested as a means of revitalizing a town/city center. At the time, gambling was legal only in the state of Nevada and in Atlantic City. Deadwood was the first small improve in the U.S.
To seek legal gambling revenues as a way of maintaining small-town historic qualities. Gambling was legalized in Deadwood in 1989 and immediately brought momentous new revenues and development. The pressure of evolution since then may have an effect on the historical integrity of the landmark district. Deadwood is positioned at 44 22 36 N 103 43 45 W. According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 3.83 square miles (9.92 km2), all of it land. Deadwood has been assigned the ZIP code 57732 and the FIPS place code 15700.
Mickelson Trail starts in Deadwood and runs south through the Black Hills to Edgemont.
The Midnight Star casino in Deadwood is owned by American film actor Kevin Costner, who had directed and starred in the 1990 Academy Award-winning film Dances With Wolves, which was filmed mainly in South Dakota.
Deadwood's climate varies considerably from the rest of the state and encircling areas.
While most of the state receives less than 25 inches or 640 millimetres of rain per year, annual rain amounts in the Lead Deadwood region reach nearly 30 inches or 762.0 millimetres.
Even with a mean annual snow flurry of 102.9 inches or 2.61 metres, warm chinook winds are incessant enough that the median snow cover is zero even in January, although amid cold spells after big snowstorms there can be considerable snow on the ground: on November 6, 2008 after a storm had deposited 45.7 inches (1.16 m) of snow with water equivalent of 4.25 inches or 108.0 millimetres, 35 inches or 0.89 metres of snow lay on the ground. Spring is brief and is characterized by large wet snow storms and periods of rain: April 2006, though around 4 F or 2.2 C hotter than the long-term mean overall, saw a primary storm of 54.4 inches (1.38 m) (water equivalent 4.30 inches or 109.2 millimetres) leave a record snow depth of 39 inches or 0.99 metres on the 19th.
Typically the first 70 F or 21.1 C temperature will be reached at the beginning of April, the first 80 F or 26.7 C near the beginning of May, and the first 90 F or 32.2 C around mid-June.
Over the year, 0 F or 17.8 C is reached on 17.8 mornings per year, and 47.9 afternoons do not top freezing.
The spring season sees heavy snow and rainfall, with 34 inches (0.86 m) of snow having declined in April 1986 and as much as 15.99 inches or 406.1 millimetres of rain in the record wet May 1982.
The summer season is very warm, though with comfortably cool evenings: only one afternoon in five years will top 100 F or 37.8 C and only 10.7 afternoons equal or exceed 90 F or 32.2 C.
Since records began in 1948 the hottest temperature has been 103 F (39.4 C) most recently on July 10, 1954, and the coldest 30 F ( 34.4 C) amid the great freeze of December 1989.
Climate data for Deadwood, South Dakota Source #1: South Dakota State University In the city, the populace was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 27.8% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older.
The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 94.9% White, 0.2% African American, 1.8% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.6% from other competitions, and 2.0% from two or more competitions.
There were 661 homeholds of which 17.2% had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 33.4% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female homeholder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male homeholder with no wife present, and 54.3% were non-families.
The median age in the town/city was 48 years.
15% of inhabitants were under the age of 18; 5.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.3% were from 25 to 44; 37.9% were from 45 to 64; and 17.8% were 65 years of age or older.
Deadwood Dick is a fictional character who appears in a series of stories presented between 1877 and 1897 by Edward Lytton Wheeler (1854/5 1885).
Movie musical Calamity Jane starring Doris Day was set in Deadwood City.
The Adam-12 1969 episode, "The Long Walk" features an old man who reminisces about his early life in Deadwood.
A 1978 children's book in the Choose Your Own Adventure series is set in Deadwood City. In Flashman and the Redskins, a 1982 novel by George Mac - Donald Fraser, the eponymous hero, an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok, ends his adventure in Deadwood in 1876, shortly before Hickok's death.
Deadwood's history and inhabitants are the foundation of Pete Dexter's 1986 novel, Deadwood, in which Charles Utter, Wild Bill Hickok, and Calamity Jane are the central characters.
In the Star Trek: The Next Generation 1992 episode "A Fistful of Datas", a holodeck program takes place in 19th-century Deadwood.
Dead Man in Deadwood, Book #87 in the Hardy Boys Casefiles series and presented in 1994, is set in Deadwood.
Deadwood, an HBO TV series that ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2006, had the town's early history as its setting.
The three Tales from Deadwood novels (2005 07) by Mike Jameson are set in Deadwood and feature Wild Bill Hickok, Calamity Jane, Al Swearengen and other historical figures.
The Doctor Who comic book story Dead Man's Hand, presented by IDW, takes place in Deadwood a several years after the burial of "Wild Bill" Hickock.
In the 2012 video game Borderlands 2, The town of Lynchwood is a space western-themed homage to Deadwood.
Noted citizens who were born or have resided in Deadwood.
Dora Du - Fran, (1868 1934), brothel owner in Deadwood Wyatt Earp, (1848 1929), American shareholder and law enforcement officer who lived in Deadwood from 1876 to 1877 Carole Hillard, (1936 2007), Lieutenant Governor of South Dakota 1995 2003 after 1883), madam in Deadwood William Randolph Steele, (1842 1901), former resident, mayor of Deadwood, lawyer, soldier, and politician "Mayor of the town/city of Deadwood".
"American Fact - Finder".
"Population Estimates".
"American Fact - Finder".
"Discover the History of the Real Deadwood, South Dakota".
"The Painted Ladies of Deadwood Gulch".
City of Deadwood.
Wong et al., "Deadwood's Pioneer Merchant," South Dakota History (2009) 39#4 pp 283 335 "Historic Wildfire in the Black Hills Deadwood 1959" (PDF).
"National Guard engineers end 77 years in Sturgis".
"NHL nomination for Deadwood Historic District" (PDF).
"Deadwood gambling spurred change, but the town's evolution continues".
"Deadwood, South Dakota Gambling, Historic Preservation, and Economic Revitalization" (PDF).
"National Historic Landmarks Program: Deadwood Historic District".
National Weather Service; NOW Data, Rapid City, South Dakota Deadwood 1971 2000" (PDF).
"Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Incorporated Places: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2015".
United States Enumeration Bureau.
Deadwood City.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Deadwood, South Dakota.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Deadwood.
Deadwood Chamber of Commerce Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission Deadwood Digital Media Archive (creative commons-licensed photos, laser scans, panoramas), data from a DHPC/Cy - Ark partnership Enjoy Deadwood South Dakota Municipalities and communities of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States State of South Dakota Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming
Categories:
American folklore - American Old West - Black Hills - Cities in South Dakota - County seats in South Dakota - Deadwood, South Dakota - Cities in Lawrence County, South Dakota - National Historic Landmarks in South Dakota - Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in South Dakota - National Register of Historic Places in Lawrence County, South Dakota
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