Since we just featured some awesome antique stores here that have things from decades back offering a small view into what it might have been like to live at that time, I thought it'd be interesting to dive a little deeper and check out some old photographs from the 1930s of houses here in South Dakota. These homes, from the poorest types hit hard by the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression, to fanciful mansions in cities, to the temporary dwellings of those with high hopes of making it rich, provided shelter to all walks of life that tried to make it here in the state's earlier days.
Everything is a lot different now, and it's hard to fully understand what it was like then, so let's take a trip back in time...
1. A sod house - common for most of the original homesteaders - in Pennington County. 1936
2. A house considered old even in 1937 in a mining ghost town near Deadwood
3. Earth dugouts, like this one near Rapid City, provided shelter to many during the hardships of the Dust Bowl. 1936
4. This large and frivolous home in Aberdeen stood out from the rest. 1939
5. A patchwork homesteader's house, made from whatever materials at hand, and a couple of its residents. 1936
6. This literal mobile home was the only shelter this family had. They were on their way west in search of better work, struggling from the Great Depression. 1936
7. A gold prospector's shack. The promise of gold drew many to the state, but usually for only a very short time before they moved on. 1937
8. A lone homestead out in the Black Hills. Though weathered and old, it was still inhabited at this time. 1937
9. A mud-covered log cabin. 1939
The history of South Dakota is certainly a rich one, full of both hardships and prosperity. Do you have any family stories or history in the state?
Subscribe to our newsletter
Get the latest updates and news
Thank you for subscribing!
