1880 Town

South Dakota's Original "1880 Town" is situated near Midland, S.D.  Gathering original buildings from the local area after being given an abandoned movie set, Richard Hullinger began the creation of this town in 1969.  The movie set had accumulated turn of the century period buildings and artifacts for a movie that was never completed.  Thousands of additional unique relics and buildings have been collected with authentic contents reflecting the time period from 1880 to 1920 since the project was started.  The main street above reaches the central point of town-one of two churches with a homestead (pictured below) up the hill beyond.

The transportation of the time from horses to a buggy or wagons and a stage coach are all represented.  The double wagons in the barn were actually used by Kevin Costner in the movie "Dances With Wolves" and for some years the horse Costner rode in the movie called "Cisco" was onsite here for some time until the horse died here just a few years ago.

Trains were able to travel across the plains after the completion of the Northern Transcontinental Railway in 1883.  This became a major method of transportation during the time this town represents. Residents soon learned the area's strong winds could produce reliable power for drawing up precious water.

We enjoyed ourselves here for over two hours today and this was the reason for spending the night here 22 miles west of Murdo, South Dakota at a very nice KOA.  Both have made this a very enjoyable day.