Spearfish Historic Commercial District: A Walking Tour

A brochure featuring photos and descriptions of 16 historic resources and a map. From introduction: "The year is 1876. Gold fever is attracting prospectors, homesteaders, and adventurers to the Northern Black Hills of Dakota Territory. A small settlement along the Spearfish Creek is beginning to show signs of permanence. Unlike the wild raucous mining town of Deadwood, Spearfish is growing quietly into a center for commerce and community. It is in this year-1876---that Alfred Gay and J.E. Smith establish a town site with extra wide streets and alleyways on the banks of Spearfish Creek. The placer gold is running out and the Indian Treaties are taking hold. Rumors in Dakota Territory hint of statehood, and in 1888, one year ahead of South Dakota Statehood, Spearfish incorporates as a city. By now, area ranchers and the handful of miners still working their claims are searching for a community that meets their social and commercial needs. Spearfish has already established its peaceful presence in this rugged land and stands ready to meet the challenges of statehood as the Queen City of the Black Hills. The L-shaped Spearfish Historic Commercial District encompasses a four-block area around Spearfish' Main Street. It reflects a classic turn-of-the century character generously incorporating the native sandstone into many of its original buildings. of the 24 buildings that makeup the District, 16 were built before 1911, only four can lay honest claim to the architecture and styles common after 1930." Project funding was provided in part by a 2013 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Spearfish (project number SD-13-024) administered by the South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (grant number P13AF00027) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Spearfish, South Dakota is a Certified Local Government.

Spearfish Historic Commercial District: A Walking Tour

Collections