The First Trains and the Towns Left Behind

The first trains reached Dakota Territory in the fall of 1872 — though the records argue about the exact day Elk Point saw its first train, and they argue about Vermillion's first train too. Yankton's line was finished by February 1873. Sioux Falls waited nearly six years longer: its first passenger train rolled in on Thursday, August 1, 1878, at exactly 12:40 in the afternoon, under conductor Peter Becker. Canton got its turn in 1879. But for every settlement the tracks put on the map, another town saw its future cut out from under it. Firesteel, in Davison County, had thirty-two buildings when the surveyors bypassed it — so its people packed up their buildings and moved the whole town to the new railroad site called Mitchell. Swan Lake City, Turner County's seat since 1871, lost the seat to Parker in 1885. Bon Homme, its county's seat since 1862, lost out to Tyndall — a town whose first building was the depot. And almost overnight, the stagecoach lines and waystations like the Twelve Mile House became relics of an older era. South Dakota Mystery Hunters — Season 3, Episode 1. The First Trains and the Towns Left Behind, East River, South Dakota. Tell us below: when Firesteel was bypassed, was it honest caution about floodwater — or inside railroad speculation? — Joshua #605 #57001 #SouthDakota #SDHistory #SouthDakotaHistory #GhostTowns #HistoricalMarkers #AbandonedSouthDakota #PrairieHistory #SDMysteryHunters #RailroadHistory #DakotaTerritory #Firesteel