GALENA

NAME: Galena
COUNTY: Lawrence
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: Snow in winter, cool spring/ fall, warm summers.
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Anytime but winter
COMMENTS: From Deadwood, take US385 south about7 miles, then good gravel exiting east about 8 miles. Road is signed Galena and Sturgis. No residents.
REMAINS: Few old bldgs, old schoolhouse. Camp sites along road into galena

Looking for gold, they found silver instead. Apparently there was wild history of digging and fighting for Silver; locale is another picture-sque setting in the Black Hills. Submitted by: Bob stelow

The word Galena is another name for lead ore yet the community was a silver mining town. There were untold number of claims and mines in the area, some of which are still worked from time to time. In 1902 the railroad came to town and served the area until 1912 when the line was abandoned. The better known mines were the Golden Crest, the Oro Hondo and three named Emma, after an agile young woman who worked in the local boarding house. The glory hole at the Gilt Edge Maid is well worth a visit as the square-set timbering is exposed, and one can see how this intricate method of holding up the roof and sides of the mine was used. Galena still has a few residents and a great many of the old buildings. It is best reach by turning east at the stop of Strawberry Hill, about 5 miles south of Pluma on US 385, then going northeast over the dirt roads for about 2 miles. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.

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