History of Lead, South Dakota
Lead (pronounced as "leed") is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota|Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,027 at the 2000 census. Lead is located in western South Dakota, in the Black Hills near the Wyoming state line. The town was officially founded in 1876 after the discovery of gold. It is the site of the Homestake Mine (South Dakota)|Homestake Mine, the largest, deepest (8240 feet) and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere before closing in 2001.
Lead was originally founded as a company town by the Homestake Gold Mining Company, which ran the nearby Homestake Mine (South Dakota)|Homestake mine. Phoebe Hearst, wife of one of the principals, was instrumental in making Lead a good place to live. She established the Hearst Free Public Library in town, and in 1900 the Hearst Free Kindergarten. She donated regularly to Lead's churches, and provided college scholarships to the children of mine and mill workers.Duane A. Smith (2003) "Here's to low-grade ore and plenty of it," the Hearsts and the Homestake mine, Mining Engineering, 9/2003, p.23-27.
Lead and the Homestake mine are being considered for the National Underground Science Laboratory. A program that will conduct testing on Nutrino activity.
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