Preservation Thursday: Homestake Water System Past and Present

Curt Betcher will present a program on the Homestake water system which was first constructed in the early 1880s by Homestake Mine. Water was required in larger quantities for the expansion of Homestake and other mines in the Lead-Deadwood area. George Hearst purchased the mine in the late 1870s and knew that much more water was needed. Homestake constructed over 30 miles of wood-flume gravity-fed systems from as far away as the north tributary of Rapid Creek. The flume system was replaced in the 1910s with clay tile pipe. A pump station was added to pump water from Spearfish Creek to Whitewood Creek. The system is still in use under the ownership of the Lead Sanitation District. It supplies all the water to the Lead-Deadwood area. Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center; 12:00 p.m.; free for members and $5 for non-members. Masks are required. Social distancing and limited admission will also be implanted.