Flatiron, South Dakota

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Coordinates: 44°19′35″N 103°46′07″W / 44.3263733°N 103.7685318°W / 44.3263733; -103.7685318
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Flatiron, South Dakota
Yellow Creek
Town
UTC-6 (MDT
)

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.

History

Beginnings and mining operations

As people began to

move into the Black Hills, several cabins sprang up around Yellow Creek in the Black Hills. In 1894, the town began to be staked out, but was not yet fully founded; when the area boomed around May 1896, a series of large buildings and small cabins, including a two-story boarding house, were built. Flatiron was first advertised on a billboard as Flat Iron City. Freshwater springs were located nearby, and a well was dug.[2]
Eventually, it became known as Yellow Creek, and then again as Flatiron.

The

railroad and was pushed through the cyanide mill using gravity. The gold ore sold for US$1.6 a ton, which was a huge accomplishment at the time. The Little Blue Mine to the north became just as successful for producing gold and flux. The main railroad was eventually extended to the mill; however, the grade was so steep that the cars had to be hauled up by a winch. Two separate railroad lines ran through the town. One began and ended in the town, while the other lead into the town. The finely-ground tailings were used as fill and ballast in the form of sand.[3]

Growth and abandonment

The town prospered because of the mine. Shortly after its founding, it had one dozen homes.[2] By 1915, it had about 30 buildings, including a school, several large mills, many stores, and a post office.[4] The tailings covered one side of a nearby large valley. In 1927, a powerful flood resulting from heavy rain caused this accumulated tailings to slump. The railroad, train, and engine were buried under several feet of sand, killing the engineer in the process. The tracks were not uncovered until around 1974, when Lead and Deadwood, two neighboring towns, began to use the tailings to sand icy roads during winter. The mines eventually shut down and the town was completely abandoned. More than 80% of the town has sunk into the caving tunnels below, and the rest are only foundations.[3]

Geography

Flatiron is located in the Black Hills of east-central Lawrence County. It is approximately two miles (3.2 km) south of Lead. The town itself is built on the side of a hill and near a large valley. To the north is the abandoned Little Blue Mine.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b "Feature Detail Report for: Flatiron I (historical)." U.S. Geological Survey. U.S. Department of the Interior. 13 Feb. 1980. GNIS. Web. 2 Sep. 2013.
  2. ^ a b Klock, Irma H. (June 1975). Yesterday's Gold Camps and Mines in the Northern Black Hills (1st ed.). Lead, SD: Seaton Publishing Company. pp. 94–97.
  3. ^ a b c Parker, Watson, and Hugh K. Lambert. Black Hills Ghost Towns. First ed. Vol. 1. Chicago, IL: The Swallow Press Incorporated, 1974. 91-93, 208. 1 vols. Print.
  4. ^ Chenoweth, Henry. "Flatiron - South Dakota Ghost Town." Ghost Towns. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Sept. 2013
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