Opinions about Lead (Rapid City, Spearfish, Deadwood: homes, college, living in)

[mhurd74]

Looking for opinions about Lead SD and living there.

[DannyBanany]

Lead is one of the oldest cities in South Dakota as it was founded during the "Gold Rush" of the 1800s. I have always found it to be kind of a dirty town and it's built on the side of cliffs so roads are narrow and steep. The area surrounding it (Terry Peak, Deer Mountain, Spearfish Canyon) is very beautiful and there is a lot of recreation in the area. Lead is also in the Northern Hills so it gets more snow than any other part of the Black Hills and it is more moist than other parts. Deadwood is close by for night life too.

[Chris19]

Lead has been slowly losing people over the decades, but was hit hard in 2000 when the Homestake Mine closed its doors. The mine will be converted into an underground science lab, which will help Lead rebound. The progress will be slow at first, but the long-term effects will be substantial and positive for Lead.

I have been to the town when I was a nine-year old on a family trip to the Black Hills on our way to Colorado. I toured the Homestake Mine but did not remember much else about Lead.

[blackhillsdreams]

Here's a general question to DannyB and Chris regarding this.

With the gold mining that went on for a century, what is the water table like? Is it contaminated? Is there a high incidence of cancer in the area? I'm only asking because the type of chemicals used to leach the gold out can be very toxic (Arsenic/Stricnine I think). My mom lives in the beautiful hills of North Carolina where many many Christmas Trees are grown and it appears that the fertilizer is in the water and Cancer has been bad all over the area.

You hear the same thing around Detroit and many metro areas where manufacturing has been huge.

[DannyBanany]

I have never heard about cancer or health issues related to mining in Lead, but the Homestake Company has done some major strip-mining in that area and has failed to replant and landscape it over.

Strip-mining is where you tear out large chunks of land in layers. So the cliffs and ridges in Lead look like stairs and seem unnatural. That is another reason I think Lead is kinda ugly.

[mhurd74]

Thanks for all that replied. I really enjoy this forum. Its interesting to read and get responses back. I'm sure I"ll be having more questions as I try to relocate to the Lead/Deadwood area.

Mike

[Badland wonder]

I consider most people living in the Northern Black Hills to be of pretty good health. You have to be pretty hardy to live in the Black Hills of SD. The area is very nice, the towns are very small. If you do not actually need to be in Lead or Deadwood, Rapid City is the largest area (actually a city). If size doesn't matter then Sturges ,where the Harley rally is, is a good smaller town. Or even Edgemont or somewhere right at the bottom of the hills. Of course, Spearfish is great, with a college and a little more going for it.

[Hray73]

I have family in Lead...I'm a city girl, so it's a nice getaway with some beautiful views and good weather most of the year. You have Terry Peak just down the road and an awesome hamburger joint with a nice outdoor patio that seems to be the place to be on the weekends. Aside from that, it's the good ole outdoors. As far as the contamination-they do have arsenic in their water in some parts (my family is just outside lead, headed out towards Spearfish canyon) so they just drink the bottled water. They finally have decent wireless internet out in the remote parts, but cell phone and satellite service comes and goes with the clouds It's a beautiful escape from the city (if that's what you are used to). You can actually see the stars at night, but you have to drive about an hour to get to the mall or even a Target (although with the 75 something mile an hour speed limit, it's not too bad).