Irrigating Spearfish Valley - Spearfish, SD
Posted by: Groundspeak Premium Member QuarrellaDeVil
N 44° 29.432 W 103° 51.534
13T E 590729 N 4926990
An interactive sign stands in front of the Old City Hall building at 722 N Main St, Spearfish, SD, providing some background on irrigation throughout the area, noting the work done by Robert Evans in creating ditches to help out.
Waymark Code: WM12PVP
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 06/28/2020
Published By:Groundspeak Premium Member YoSam.
Views: 4
Download this waymark:
.GPX File
.LOC File
.KML File (Google Earth)

Four photos on the sign are identified in the fine print below the text:

Clockwise from left: Robert H. Evans; the Evans-Tonn Ditch just north of Hillsview Bridge Road. Ditches were named for the owners of the land they crossed; irrigation ditch in front of the old city hall on Main Street; part of Evans-Tonn Ditch being converted to a pipe in 2010.

Complementing the emblems of Deadwood, South Dakota (A National Historic Landmark), Preserve America (Explore and Enjoy Our Heritage), and the South Dakota State Historical Society (Department of Tourism) is further fine print:

Sponsored by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Community Commission, a Preserve America grant, and the South Dakota State Historical Society. Images courtesy of the South Dakota State Historical Society, Bill Evans, Tom Ver Helst, Ag Engineer, USDA-NRCS, and the Spearfish Historic Preservation Commission.

Marker Name: Irrigating Spearfish Valley

Marker Type: City

Marker Text:
Every April the complicated network of irrigation ditches that spreads out from Spearfish Creek is cleared of debris. In May, the water gates open and water flows across the valley until the first hard freeze, usually in September or October. Fruit orchards and fields of oats, barley, rye, and corn benefit from the water. City-dwellers with water rights green up their lawns by slotting boards into the irrigation channel and diverting water onto their grass.

Designed with a fall of two inches per hundred feet, the irrigation water runs fast enough to keep sediment from settling but not so fast that the ditches erode away. Robert Evans, an Irish-born gold seeker and one of Spearfish's first settlers in 1876, designed the ditches. Evans learned how to engineer water flow while working for the gold mines in Montana.

While most of the ditches remain as they did when first built, some have been replaced with pipes where development dictates, particularly in the northern part of town. The turnouts were replaced in the 1950s and still exist today.
Visit Instructions:
A photo of the 'Marker' or 'Plaque' is required to identify the location, plus a picture of the 'Historic Site'. If you do not post a photo your log will be deleted.
Search for...
Geocaching.com Google Map
Google Maps
MapQuest
Bing Maps
Nearest Waymarks
Nearest South Dakota Historical Markers
Nearest Geocaches
Create a scavenger hunt using this waymark as the center point
Recent Visits/Logs:
There are no logs for this waymark yet.