The Story
In 1877 Henry Fosha built a stable at what was then Ice Box Canyon Valley Station — the last of eleven relay stops on the roughly 200-mile Cheyenne & Black Hills stage route. Tired horses were swapped for fresh ones here for the final leg into Deadwood. The stage route ended in 1887 as railroads arrived, and the site carried on as a general store famous for its fried chicken. A newer building went up in 1954; the older one burned in 1959. In 2024 the Lawrence County Historical Society finally erected a marker — nearly 150 years after the station opened.
Surprising Facts
→ The site has served travelers for nearly 150 years — stage stop, general store, then restaurant.
→ It was the very last horse-change stop before the stagecoach's final run into Deadwood.
→ The Lawrence County Historical Society didn't formally mark the site until 2024.