Welcome back to National Parks and other public lands with T!
We stopped at 1880 Town on the long drive from DeSmet, South Dakota to the Badlands. 1880 Town is a living history museum with buildings and artifacts from 1880 through 1920.
Richard Hullinger bought the land in the late sixties. A movie company built a set on his land in the early seventies. When filming was over, Hullinger had the beginnings of the museum, later moving some historic buildings to the site as well.
We first stopped at the saloon to rent costumes for the kids. They had a blast exploring all of the buildings in their old-time garb. There are more than 30 buildings in the town.
Afterwards, we were treated to a Wild West performance on main street. This was basically a mock shoot-out in which one of the audience members was taken hostage.
Location: 24280 SD Hwy 63 I90 Exit 170, Midland, SD 57552
Designation: Living History Museum
Date designated or established: 1972
Date of my visit: 10/4/2019
You Tube video of 1800s Town courtesy of Stunning Videos
Thanks Theresa. I’m sorry we missed this when we visited the Badlands. This seems to be an amazing collection of buildings and artifacts that bring this era back to life. And I can only imagine what is was like to go through one of the South Dakota winters at that time. The video was well done and greatly enhanced the “tour.”
It was an unplanned stop because the kids were getting restless in the car….we didn’t hope for more than restrooms and a chance for the kids to get the crazy out before getting back on the road. We were pleasantly surprised!
Looks like a neat place.
It was fun!
Reminds of the Pioneer Village I visited on my last trip to SD. This one seems a bit more interactive, though. I’ll have to check it out!
👍🏻👍🏻