Civic Stability - Deadwood, SD
Posted by: 
gparkes
N 44° 22.507 W 103° 43.763
13T E 601226 N 4914322
This marker stands between the Federal Building and County Courthouse in Deadwood, South Dakota.
Waymark Code: WM6R0R
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 07/11/2009
Views: 18
Marker text reads:
Civic Stabiility
Deadwood erected two monuments to order and permanence in the early 1900's. The federal building opened in 1907 and activities in the county courthouse started the next year.
In its earl gold rush days, Deadwood had been a wild, raucous mining camp with a widespread reputation for lawlessness. But over time the community matured and the residents supported law and order. Townspeople viewed the two government buildings as symbols of the respectability, permanence and importance that Deadwood had achieved.
The United States District Court had met in Deadwood since the early gold rush days. Its first meeting in the mining camp was in a saloon on Lee Street. In the new federal building, the courtrooms occupied the second floor, while the post office was on the first floor. The classical revival design proclaimed the federal presence in the community.
The new county courthouse... boasted beautiful murals on the walls and ceilings. Renovations covered this art, but it was exposed and restored in 1991. Additions have expanded the size of the original building, but it still serves as the center of county business.