The Story
Spearfish was established in May 1876 at the mouth of the canyon, originally named "Queen City." Unlike the mining camps of Lead and Deadwood, it was sited for agriculture — its broad valley made it the food supplier to the surrounding camps. The downtown commercial district, listed on the National Register in 1975, comprises 24 contributing buildings, 16 of them predating 1911, in Renaissance and Romanesque Revival styles using locally quarried Sundance sandstone. Notable buildings include the 1885 Seth Bullock Building, named for the famous Deadwood lawman.
Surprising Facts
→ Spearfish was originally named "Queen City," not Spearfish, at its 1876 founding.
→ It was founded as an agricultural supply town, not a mining town.
→ Common lore wrongly credits the "Thoen brothers" as founders — the Gay brothers founded it; the Thoens only found the Thoen Stone in 1887.