Rochford, South Dakota
Home Up

 

Rochford is in Pennington County about 16 miles northwest of Hill City on a gravel road that leads through Mystic on its way to Lead and Deadwood.  I found the drive excellent when I visited in July 2001.  The road, while unpaved most of the way, is smooth and well graded.

Rochford itself is anything but ghostly.  Several photos of the town appear in the Parker/Lambert book, but I found little resemblance between those photos taken in the early 1970s and what is there today.

 

 

This is the only photo appearing in the Parker/Lambert book (1974) that is of something that is recognizable today, at least as far as I was able to determine.  It is (obviously) the Irish Gulch Dance Hall.
 

The same building in July 2001.  The words "Dance Hall" have been painted over, and the entire exterior siding and front appearance have changed.  The windows are smaller and there is just a single door.  It looks almost like a residence now.

Information added 5/23/03:  The owner of the red jeep parked in front saw this website and was kind enough to write and tell me that the building has been in his wife's family for a number of years and that it is now used as a hunting lodge.

 

 
Photo taken in July 2001 of an old building in Rochford which was at one time a gas station.  The sign says "Rochford, pop. 25, elev. 5305."  Below left is a photo of the gas station sent to me by on 6/20/07 by Mark Land who once lived in the town.  It was taken in the 1970s when the station was still operating.  The house behind is obviously a more recent addition to the scenery.  Below center is a photo of the Moonshine Gulch Saloon, and below right is the entrance to the Standby Mine.  Both photos were taken in 1980 and were sent to me on 5/22/08 by Mark Land.  Both structures are now gone.
 
Another view of the Standby Mine entrance from slightly farther away and taken in 1985, five years later than the photo at above right.  In this photo, the center portion of the roof has caved in. The photos at left and right are from July 1985 and show parts of the interior of the mine.  The left photo shows one of the wooden, seven-foot diameter "bullwheels" that were powered by steam engines and drove the "stamps" that ground the ore into fine particles.  At center is a similar photo of the bullwheel that appears on page 30 of the Parker/Lambert book.
 
 
Photo taken in 1980 showing the remains of the bridge across the creek leading to the mine. The photo on the right was taken in 1985 and shows the remains of the tramway leading into the mine.  On the left is a photo from the essentially the same vantage point appearing on page 159 of the Parker/Lambert book and dating from before 1973.  It shows the tramway pretty much intact. 
 
 

One of the better kept buildings in Rochford is the school.
 

Antique shop in Rochford that calls itself the "Small of America."  Get it?

The proprietors were very friendly.

 

 

On October 12, 2003, I received an email from Lorri May of Wentworth, South Dakota who also has a connection to Rochford.  She sent the following:  Rochford is my favorite place in the Black Hills, mainly because my dad was located here when he was 18 years old in 1934. He was in the CCC - Civilian Conservation Corps - an organization established by the President to put young men to work after the Great Depression hit in 1929. Dad was put to work clearing trees in the overgrowth near Rochford. Several years ago my ex-husband and I tracked down where Dad's camp had been and showed Dad pictures of it when we got home. It was very interesting! There wasn't much left of the camp as Dad said the military (who ran it) cleared out everything when they left a site. We could see the depression where the creek that they dug was and the hole where the well was. In talking with one of my fellow teachers at the time, we figured out that her dad was at Rochford at the same time my dad was! I told Dad about it and he remembered the guy, even 60 years later! They lived in the same cabin together.