20 Events and People of the Real Deadwood, South Dakota

20 Events and People of the Real Deadwood, South Dakota

Larry Holzwarth - August 26, 2018

20 Events and People of the Real Deadwood, South Dakota
The coming of the railroad called for a celebratory parade in 1888. Wikimedia

The aftermath of the Great Fire

When Deadwood burned, the majority of the population were left stunned and often homeless. Many residents had moved their personal property out of the path of the fire, leaving it unprotected and subject to looting, which of course led to fights and gunfire. The authorities ordered the saloons which had not burned down closed, after observing the increase of drunken behavior in the days after the fire, as broken men turned to liquor to assuage their sorrows. The fire destroyed records of the earliest days of the camp, as well as changing the appearance of Deadwood forever. New structures were built primarily of brick and mortar.

Deadwood survived another major fire in 1894, which destroyed a large portion of the central business district. According to the Pioneer Times the fire started in a boarding house on Main Street, “patronized by a careless and heedless element.” Once again the city was rebuilt, though in the aftermath of each fire many of the population left to try their luck elsewhere. Deadwood also faced the threat of forest fires, which appeared in the fall of 1893 and endangered the town, as well as the nearby town of Lead. True to its name Deadwood has faced the disaster of fires many times in its history, and each time has rebuilt from the embers.

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