Dewey, South Dakota | |
---|---|
Coordinates: 43°31′47.532″N104°2′18.168″W / 43.52987000°N 104.03838000°W Coordinates: 43°31′47.532″N104°2′18.168″W / 43.52987000°N 104.03838000°W | |
Country | United States |
State | South Dakota |
County | Custer |
Township | West Custer UT (portion of Custer County west of Custer State Park) [1] |
Elevation | 3,714 ft (1,132 m) |
Population | |
• Total | 7 |
Time zone | UTC-7 (MST) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC-6 (MDT) |
ZIP code | 57735 |
Area code(s) | 605 |
FIPS code | 46-16380 |
GNIS feature ID | 1261554 [2] |
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. [3] [4] There are approximately five or six homes in town. [5] Dewey has a volunteer fire department in the Edgemont city district. [6]
Dewey lies just to the southwest of the Elk Mountains, a small range that is part of the Black Hills. South Dewey Road leads into Fall River County southeast 6.1 miles (9.8 km) to Burdock and then to Edgemont—23 miles (37 km) from Dewey. Northwest of Dewey 30 miles (48 km) is Newcastle, Wyoming. [7]
Dewey was originally called "S and G Ranch" for its owners Sturgis and Goodell. The name was changed in 1890 by either the Burlington Railroad which came through the area that year, or the Post Office Department. [8] The town is a populated place ("a place or area having clustered or scattered buildings and a permanent population") that is not a census designated or incorporated place with an official federally recognized name. [9]
Dewey was a cattle town in the first half of the 20th century. Local ranchers used its rail depot to ship cattle to market. [10]
Two ranches near Dewey are listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Custer County. The Edna and Ernest Young Ranch is approximately three miles south of town, south of Beaver Creek, while the Charles and Ollie Lampert Ranch is north of Dewey.
The Tennessee Valley Authority and private uranium companies have explored the Dewey / Burdock area since the 1970s. [11] Several mines still exist in the area [12] and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Environmental Protection Agency studied the area in 2012 and 2013 for new in-situ uranium recovery. [13]
Fall River County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 6,973. Its county seat is Hot Springs. The county was founded in 1883. It is named for Fall River which runs through it.
Custer County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 8,318. Its county seat is Custer. The county was created in 1875, and was organized in 1877.
Edgemont is a city in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 725 at the 2020 census. The city lies on the far southern edge of the Black Hills in southwestern South Dakota.
Hill City is the oldest existing city in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 872 at the 2020 census. Hill City is located 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Rapid City on U.S. Highway 16 and on U.S. Route 385 that connects Deadwood to Hot Springs. Hill City is known as the "Heart of the Hills", a distinction derived from its proximity to both the geographical center of the Black Hills, and the local tourist destinations.
The Cheyenne River, also written Chyone, referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximately 295 miles (475 km) long and drains an area of 24,240 square miles (62,800 km2). About 60% of the drainage basin is in South Dakota and almost all of the remainder is in Wyoming.
Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the Midwestern United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies 3.7 mi (6.0 km) west-southwest of Mount Rushmore. At 7,244 feet (2,208 m), it has been described by the Board on Geographical Names as the highest summit in the United States east of the Rocky Mountains. Though part of the North American Cordillera, it is generally considered to be geologically separate from the Rocky Mountains. Lost Mine peak in the Chisos Mountains of Texas, at an elevation of 7,535 feet, is the easternmost peak within the continental United States above 7,000 feet.
U.S. Route 16 (US 16) is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. As of 2004, the highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate 90/U.S. Route 14 (I-90/US 14), concurrent with I-190, in Rapid City, South Dakota. The western terminus is the east entrance to Yellowstone National Park, concurrent with US 14 and US 20. U.S. 16 used to extend all the way to Michigan, but has been truncated in favor of Interstates 90 and 96.
Black Hills National Forest is located in southwestern South Dakota and northeastern Wyoming, United States. The forest has an area of over 1.25 million acres (5,066 km²) and is managed by the Forest Service. Forest headquarters are located in Custer, South Dakota. There are local ranger district offices in Custer, Rapid City, and Spearfish in South Dakota, and in Sundance, Wyoming.
U.S. Route 16A is a 36.971-mile-long (59.499 km) scenic United States highway. It is an alternate route for US 16. It splits from US 16 in the Black Hills of the southwestern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The highway's western terminus is an intersection with US 16, US 385, and South Dakota Highway 89 (SD 89) in Custer, South Dakota. The eastern terminus is at an interchange with US 16 called the Keystone Wye south of Rapid City, South Dakota. Portions of US 16A are known as the Iron Mountain Road.
The George S. Mickelson Trail is a rail trail in the Black Hills region of South Dakota.
Uranium mining in the United States produced 173,875 pounds (78.9 tonnes) of U3O8 in 2019, 88% lower than the 2018 production of 1,447,945 pounds (656.8 tonnes) of U3O8 and the lowest US annual production since 1948. The 2019 production represents 0.3% of the anticipated uranium fuel requirements of the US's nuclear power reactors for the year.
Uranium mining in Colorado, United States, goes back to 1872, when pitchblende ore was taken from gold mines near Central City, Colorado. The Colorado uranium industry has seen booms and busts, but continues to this day. Not counting byproduct uranium from phosphate, Colorado is considered to have the third largest uranium reserves of any US state, behind Wyoming and New Mexico.
Uranium mining in Wyoming was formerly a much larger industry than it is today. Wyoming once had many operating uranium mines, and still has the largest known uranium ore reserves of any state in the U.S. At the end of 2008, the state had estimated reserves dependent on price: 539 million pounds of uranium oxide at $50 per pound, and 1,227 million pounds at $100 per pound.
South Dakota is a state located in the north-central United States. It is usually considered to be in the Midwestern region of the country. The state can generally be divided into three geographic regions: eastern South Dakota, western South Dakota, and the Black Hills. Eastern South Dakota is lower in elevation and higher in precipitation than the western part of the state, and the Black Hills are a low, isolated mountain group in the southwestern corner of the state. Smaller sub-regions in the state include the Coteau des Prairies, Missouri Coteau, James River Valley, the Dissected Till Plains. Geologic formations in South Dakota range in age from two billion-year-old Precambrian granite in the Black Hills to glacial till deposited over the last few million years. South Dakota is the 17th-largest state in the country.
The Black Hills are a small and isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to 7,244 feet (2,208 m), is the range's highest summit. The Black Hills encompass the Black Hills National Forest. The name of the hills in Lakota is Pahá Sápa, meaning “the heart of everything that is." The Black Hills are considered a holy site. The hills are so called because of their dark appearance from a distance, as they are covered in evergreen trees.
Four Mile is an unincorporated community in Custer County, South Dakota, United States, located four miles west of Custer at the junction of U.S. Route 16 and Pleasant Valley Road.
Burdock is an uninhabited ghost town in Argentine Township in Fall River County, South Dakota, United States.
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.
The Elk Mountains are a small range of mountains in western South Dakota, forming the southwest portion of the Black Hills as part of its west-dipping monocline. They are geologically distinct from the Black Hills, on the other side of a "racetrack" region of red stone. The ridge of the Elk Mountains is formed of harder sandstones. The east face of the Elk Mountains is a 300-to-800-foot high escarpment, but the west portion falls slowly and features many canyons.
Cicero Peak is a 6,168-foot (1,880 m) mountain in the Black Hills of Custer County, South Dakota. The mountain is 6 miles (9.7 km) south-southeast of the city of Custer, southwest of Custer State Park, and northwest of Wind Cave National Park. The closest community is Sanator, which is about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Cicero Peak.