Brownsville, South Dakota

Last updated

Brownsville, South Dakota
Avalon, Esther's Place, Anderson's Place
Unincorporated community
USA South Dakota location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Brownsville
Coordinates: 44°16′31″N103°41′40″W / 44.27528°N 103.69444°W / 44.27528; -103.69444 [1]
Country United States
State South Dakota
County Lawrence
Founded byDavid Brown
Named for founder
Elevation
[1]
5,505 ft (1,678 m)
Time zone UTC-7 (MST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC-6 (MDT)
Area code 605
GNIS feature ID1265621 [1]

Brownsville, also known as Avalon, Esther's Place, and Anderson's Place, is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. [1] [2] The town was originally a lumber camp, and it was named for contractor David Brown. [1] It is the nearest community to John Hill Ranch-Keltomaki, which is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. [3]

Contents

Etymology

The town was formerly called Avalon, but the name was changed to Brownsville in honor of David Brown, a local logging contractor and the town's founder. In modern times, the town is more often referred to as Esther's Place or Anderson's Place. [4]

History

Brownsville was created as a lumber camp to supply timber for the Homestake Mine and its buildings and fuel for the boilers. Its founder and contractor, David Brown, also supervised the town's production for several years and supplied much of the equipment. The town was originally called Avalon, but the name was later changed to honor its founder. In 1880, 400 men worked in the town, and the number later grew. The Black Hills & Fort Pierre Railroad built a narrow-gauge spur to the town. [4]

In 1882, 600 men were employed in Brownsville. A telephone line was planned; it would stretch from Lead to Brownsville, and then on to Rochford, Tigerville, Hill City, and Custer. Once a week, a dance class was held, and 40 teachers were employed by the public school. By September, the Homestake Company had moved its terminus to Hagginsville. [5] In 1883, a fire broke out in the Hood & Scott Sawmill one-half mile to the northeast. The fire destroyed the mill and killed eleven employees. [4] In 1894, a boarding house was built. [5]

Today, Brownsville is a small tourist stop consisting of a store, gas station, and tavern. [1] [4]

Geography

Brownsville is located in the Black Hills region of Lawrence County. It is situated on the west side of U.S. 385 and is approximately 6.5 miles south of the ghost town Pluma. Lead is located to the north. [4] The NRHP-listed John Hill Ranch-Keltomaki is located near the town site. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lead, South Dakota</span> City in South Dakota, United States

Lead is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,982 at the 2020 census. Lead is located in western South Dakota, in the Black Hills near the Wyoming state line.

Merritt is a ghost town in Lawrence County and Pennington County, South Dakota, United States of America.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homestake Mine (South Dakota)</span> Defunct gold mine in Lead, South Dakota, USA, used for neutrino experiments

The Homestake Mine was a deep underground gold mine located in Lead, South Dakota. Until it closed in 2002 it was the largest and deepest gold mine in North America. The mine produced more than forty million troy ounces of gold during its lifetime. This is about 2,500 cubic feet (71 m3) or a volume of gold roughly equal to 18,677 US gallons.

The Black Hills Gold Rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876–77.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">White Oaks, New Mexico</span> United States historic place

White Oaks is a ghost town in Lincoln County, New Mexico, United States. Located on the outskirts of the Lincoln National Forest, it became a boomtown in 1879 following the discovery of gold and coal in the nearby Jicarilla Mountains.

Hanna is a small unincorporated community in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It is located along the Hanna Road in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The small settlement or village is south of the Hanna Campground and west-southwest of the Lead Country Club. The community is located about twelve miles southwest of Lead, South Dakota.

Blacktail is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dewey, South Dakota</span> Unincorporated community in South Dakota, United States

Dewey is an unincorporated community near the southwest corner of Custer County, South Dakota, United States, less than one mile from the Wyoming border in a prairie region of the Black Hills. There are approximately five or six homes in town. Dewey has a volunteer fire department in the Edgemont city district.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carbonate, South Dakota</span> Town in South Dakota, United States of America

Carbonate, also known as Carbonate Camp, West Virginia, Virginia, and Carbonate City (1881-1939), is a ghost town located in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tinton, South Dakota</span> Ghost town in South Dakota, United States

Tinton is a ghost town in the Black Hills of Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It started out as a gold mining camp and later began to produce tin.

Flatiron, formerly known as Yellow Creek or Flat Iron City, is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was known for its highly successful gold mining.

Maitland, originally called Garden City and sometimes misspelled Midland, is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was a mining community that boomed during the Black Hills Gold Rush, but was abandoned by about 1915.

Rochford is an unincorporated community in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is not tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Roubaix, formerly known as Perry or Lewisville, is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It is not monitored by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Nahant or West Nahant is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It flourished as a logging and, to a lesser extent, mining town in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Galena is an unincorporated community in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It is often considered to be a ghost town, even though a few families still live in the area. It is not tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Novak, also known as Cindell Spur, is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was an early mining camp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terraville, South Dakota</span> Ghost town in South Dakota, United States of America

Terraville is a ghost town in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. It was founded in 1877 as a mining camp and later evolved into a town. It was purchased by the Homestake Mining Company and was destroyed in 1982 to make way for a new mine.

The Black Hills and Fort Pierre Railroad (BH&FP) was a 3 ft narrow gauge railroad in the Black Hills of the U.S. state of South Dakota. It was created by the Homestake Mining Company and initially ran from Lead to Calcite and Piedmont by way of Elk Creek. An alternate route was established to Piedmont and Calcite by way of Nemo and Stagebarn Canyon after numerous washouts made the Elk Creek route unviable. There was also a branch from the Nemo line connecting Este with a logging camp at Merritt. The railroad had 6.180 miles (9.946 km) of dual gauge track and another 47.618 miles (76.634 km) of 3 ft track; the total amount of track was 53.798 miles (86.579 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dakota Territory Resource Corp</span>

Dakota Territory Resource Corp, a Reno, Nevada corporation, is a publicly traded gold development company owning land in the historic Homestake District of the northern Black Hills of South Dakota, an area that once produced the second largest amount of gold in U.S. history. Otherwise known as the Homestake Mine or the Homestake Deposit, the 100-square-mile area yielded approximately 44 million ounces of gold in its 136-year-history, placing it second in U.S. gold production only to the Carlin District of northeast Nevada, and ranking it the largest iron-formation-hosted gold deposit in the world.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Brownsville (historical)". Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ↑ Chenoweth, Henry. Ghosttowns.com "Brownsville - South Dakota Ghost Town." Ghost Towns. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2013.
  3. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Parker, Watson; Lambert, Hugh K. (1974). Black Hills Ghost Towns (1st ed.). Chicago, IL: The Swallow Press. pp. 48–49.
  5. 1 2 Klock, Irma H. (June 1975). Yesterday's Gold Camps and Mines in the Northern Black Hills (1st ed.). Lead, SD: Seaton Publishing Company. pp. 180–181.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.