Ghost Towns in SD (Sioux Falls, Brandon: camping, living, safe)

[DannyBanany]

My family used to stop there on road trips when I was a little kid. I fell in love with the place and I thought it was really cool. My mom hated stopping there and just wanted to hurry up and get back home!

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by DannyBanany

There's another hanging tree in Rapid City on Skyline Drive. Some kids tried to chop it down a few years ago and it was always getting vandalized. Now it's fenced off. It's dubbed Horsethief Tree. Back then, stealing a horse was as bad as murder.

Not as bad as murder, but as good as murder. If you set a man afoot, you basically killed him.

[atilla5]

Originally Posted by ElkHunter

Booge is just off of I-90 a couple miles. East of Sioux Falls about 12 miles and then go North on State highway 23 two and a half miles and then turn left and go one mile. You'll be in downtown Booge.

It's North East of Sioux Falls about 14 miles.

Hey guys!! I live in Booge, well actually right outside but we all consider ourselves citizens of Booge.

[ElkHunter]

Wow, somebody in Booge has a computer. Do they have phone's now? hahaha Just kidding.

Welcome to the site. Now we have Forrestburg, Rapid City and oh, what was that one place. Mitchel, that's it. haha

When we have somebody sign in from Vayland, we'll have a crowd.

[MikeyToo]

Originally Posted by mjgustafson

I'm a huge fan of ghost towns...any other ghost town enthusiast out there? Does anyone know of a good ghost town -- one that was once booming but now just abandoned buildings? I know the Black Hills has tons of them...

Im also interested in ghost towns. Although I'm from North Dakota, I thought I would post an interesting website with great pictures of ghost towns of NoDak. Seems to have been well put together. Hope you find it equally interesting.

GhostsOfNorthDakota.com

[Hal Evans]

My favorite ghost town is Newark, South Dakota. We made a movie in and around that area. It's not designated as a ghost town. But except for a house at the far edge of town, it's deserted. A wealthy farmer bought up the land in the town. But didn't change anything. He uses the grain elevator for his own business. You'll find the town on older maps and I think it's on certain road maps. The town is just a short distance from the North Dakota border in NE South Dakota.

There are foundations of the two dance halls, the bank and the tavern. And there is a lovely grove of trees that are still standing.

There's also a ghost town called "West Britton" in the same area. It is under water. I think it's still a mail drop off the Great Northern train line. Further up the road going north is where Burch used to be. It is a rather wild area. Water is very close to the surface in that area. There's yet another ghost town south of Brittton. Can't recall its name. It's just one or two elevators now.

Towns that are nearly ghost towns in that same area are Kidder and Lake City. I recall when those were bustilng towns.

Yes, I will say that things were very much better back when I was a kid in the 40s and 50s in and around Marshall County, South Dakota.

And now back to the world, already in progress.

[prairierose]

MikeyToo, Thank you very much for the link to North Dakota Ghost Towns.

[Hal Evans]

I looked up that NE So Dak ghost town. It was Spain. That town does still exist in the hearts and minds of people in that area. In fact during a whole town reunion some years ago, I asked an older lady who knew my folks very well where she lived. "We're in Spain," she said.

And now let's rejoin the world, already in progress.

[MJ1986]

hey Hal, I'm originally from NE South Dakota...I live in Sioux Falls currently... I'm looking forward to making it up there sometime and check those towns out!

[Hal Evans]

Hi mjgustafson! Gosh, great to hear from you! I was thinking I'd never get a reply. I recall my folks talking about a Gus Gustafson in the area. And a Mary Gustafson? Might she have been a nurse or nurse's aide at the Britton Hospital? Can't recall where he or his family lived though. Newark was the first town that I recall in the early days of my life. We lived on a farm near Newark until I was five years old. Then we moved to Britton because the school was larger. So Newark was my first "hometown." We shot scenes from a movie on the main street there. We had to shelve the movie. Too many things going on. But there is an angel that appears in a night shot. We were shooting a walk-by scene, where I was telling my wife that the town was so large and lively at one time. After the scene, a guy named Bob came by. I thought he might be the law wanting us to have a film permit. Hey, that's not impossible! But it was the bar owner of the last bar in the town. So we had a nice talk. The town also figures in another story I'm writing. There's something magic about the town! Be sure to look for the lovely rows of trees. And last time I was there, the trees that shaded the south side of town were still there.

The next near-ghost town up the road is Kidder. You can see the remains of the old school. People still live there! But there are no businesses other than the grain elevator. I recall driving the grain truck to the elevator and stopping for a huge bottle of Pepsi. Further back, I recall going to Kidder with my folks for 4th of July. At that time, Kidder had two creameries, a cafe, store, bar and a gas station and garage.

Burch is hard to find. You'll have to go to an old map. I recall going by there. It's on the next section line road east toward Britton. Turn left on that road and you will go by Burch. It's at the corner fo the next section line road.

West Britton, as I recall writing before, is no under water. You can see the trees left over from the town site. The town caught fire at least once. West Britton, is still probably where the heavy duty mail is picked up. My uncle Frank used to have that task..

And I bet you have heard of Sica Hollow! The Indians considered it a holy place. It's over by Sisseton. And you recall Floyd Westerman passing away recently? He was the Indian chief in the movie "Dances With Wolves." I recall going to school my freshman year at Northern States Teacher College in Aberdeen with Floyd. He was quite a character. Most often seen strumming his guitar. He really played up the Indian rights heritage schtick. Into acting. NSTC had a very good theater department at that time. Another very talented guy who was in plays there even after he graduated! He was "Fox" Swanson. The fox monicker came because his face resembled a fox. Hugely talented guy. He made his living selling stocks and bonds. Alas, he commited suicide! So here were two guys with great acting and organizational talents. One went on to be an entertainer nationwide. The other stayed in the Aberdeen area and took his own life.

Enough for now. Tis early morning.

So how's by you. What are you doing now? Where did you live in NE SoDak?