Tigerville, South Dakota Explained

Tigerville, South Dakota
Other Name:Tiger City
Settlement Type:Ghost town
Pushpin Map:South Dakota
Pushpin Label:Tigerville
Pushpin Label Position:right
Pushpin Map Caption:Location of Tigerville in South Dakota.
Coordinates:43.9767°N -103.6399°W
Coordinates Footnotes:[1]
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name:United States of America
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Name1:South Dakota
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:Pennington
Established Title:Founded
Established Date:1878
Extinct Title:Abandoned
Extinct Date:1885
Named For:Bengal Tiger Mine or the Lucky Tiger mining claims
Unit Pref:US
Elevation Ft:5485
Population Total:0
Population As Of:2013
Population Density Sq Mi:auto
Timezone1:MST
Utc Offset1:-7
Timezone1 Dst:MDT
Utc Offset1 Dst:-6

Tigerville or Tiger City (1878–1885) is a ghost town in the Black Hills of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The old mining town exemplifies the boom-and-bust fate of many Western towns.[2]

Naming

The town's name might have come from the Bengal Tiger Mine, located 2–3 miles away. Others say that the name came from the unpatented Lucky Tiger claims Numbers 1, 2, and 3; though these do not show up on maps, locals say that the claims were nearby the town.[2]

History

Tigerville was founded in 1878 in the King Solomon Mine area, which was known for its gold and quartz placer deposits. It had a post office, two stores,[2] three saloons, blacksmith, school, and a stage barn, which was a stop on the Cheyenne-Custer-Deadwood line. The nearby Bengal Tiger Mine, despite reportedly having promising mineral deposits, was never successfully mined. In 1880, the town reached 200 residents, and was able to send six delegates to the South Dakota Republican Convention; seeing as Rapid City, South Dakota had only ten at the time, this was a notable accomplishment for the town.[2] The town eventually grew to about 500 citizens.[1] When the town hit its bust, and the mines closed in 1885, many of the miners settled on nearby ranches or moved to other towns.[1] [3] In 1974, only one house and the sawmill remained.[2]

Geography

Tigerville is located in the Black Hills of western Pennington County. The old town site is located approximately 4.5 miles northwest of Hill City, at the junction of roads leading to Hill City, Deerfield Lake, and Rochford.[2]

Notes and References

  1. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1265396 "Feature Detail Report for: Tigerville."
  2. Parker, Watson, and Hugh K. Lambert. Black Hills Ghost Towns. First ed. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL: The Swallow Press Incorporated, 1974. 188. 1 vols. Print.
  3. http://www.historyquest.com/state/sd/rad7D719_south_dakota_historic_site.html "Tigerville 1878-1885."