Galena Ghost Town | Black Hills & Badlands - South Dakota

Galena Ghost Town

Galena is another of the little boom towns that sprang up during the 1876 gold rush. There were numerous mines and claims in the area, but by the end of the Great Depression, all had closed, except for The Double Rainbow.

Homestake Mining Company reopened the silver mine in the early 1970s when the Hunt brothers cornered the silver market and ran the price up to $50 an ounce. Today, several families still call Galena home, and the Galena Historical Society continues to work on preservation, particularly of the old Galena schoolhouse, which closed in 1943.

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