Every Sunday | Noon – 4pm
Every Monday | Noon – 5pm
Every Tuesday | 11am
Every Tuesday
Every Thursday | 2pm – 7pm
Every Friday & Saturday
Monday – Thursday | 11:00AM – 3:00PM
As long as anyone can remember, the Homestake Slime Plant has stood watch over Deadwood. Countless workers made a living here. Generations of children walked past it on their way to school. In recent decades, however, it was mostly been a sad relic of a bygone era. Deadwood Mountain Grand, with its restaurant, casino, hotel and entertainment venue, brings an exciting new role for Deadwood’s old friend.
In 1876, Deadwood Gulch mining was simple: Wash the gold dust and nuggets from the gravel creek beds. But those workings played out quickly, and sophisticated hard-rock mining became necessary.
The Homestake Slime Plant continued to serve Homestake Mining Co. until 1973. By then, changes in the process made it more efficient and environmentally cleaner to process ore near the mineshaft in Lead.
After the plant shut down, Lawrence County turned part of the building into a heavy-equipment maintenance shop. It served as a county shop for a number of years.
Deadwood’s economy took a dramatic turn in 1989, when small-stakes gaming became legal in Deadwood. Old storefronts, vacant warehouses and historic buildings up and down Main Street became casinos, restaurants and hotels.
Yet the Slime Plant stood mostly idle. Historic preservationists and Deadwood officials tried for years to find the right adaptive reuse for this old mining-era structure in Deadwood’s new gaming-era economy.
Ever since 1989, officials knew a large-scale entertainment venue would make Deadwood a tourism showcase.
The two needs – historic preservation and entertainment – converged when Deadwood Mountain Grand’s partners stepped forward.
The city’s Historic Preservation Commission funded the façade restoration, and helped the partners ensure that Deadwood’s historic mining heritage is honored and preserved.
Once known as the wildest and woolliest town in the West, Deadwood is decidedly friendlier today than it was in its 1870s heyday. Founded two years after the discovery of gold during the 1874 Custer Expedition, Deadwood is anything but dead today. In fact, in the past two decades, more than $220 million has been invested in this quaint Victorian town tucked in a gold-filled gulch, making Deadwood one of the largest ongoing historic preservation projects in the nation.
The action in Deadwood drew the likes of Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Wild Bill’s stay, however, was short. He was shot in the head while playing poker at the Saloon No. 10. He died holding two pair aces and eights, forever known as the Dead Man’s Hand.
Contemporary visitors discover brick-lined streets, period trolleys and lighting, intriguing museums and Main Street shootouts by Wild West re-enactors. When coupled with a year-round slate of special events and free outdoor concerts, parades and rodeo performances, Deadwood is still the best bet for your vacation dollar.