It may not have drawn the crowds that fill the ice rink at Rockefeller Center in New York City, but the American Legion Ice Skating Rink in Central City, South Dakota was once a popular place! That's the big building in the center of this photograph. (Thanks to the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center [HARCC] in Deadwood)
We're not quite sure exactly when the Homestake Mine closed Cyanide Sand Plant #2, between Deadwood and Lead (probably in the mid 1930s) but we've talked to many folks who remember visiting the spacious facility after it became home to a popular ice skating rink.
Documents at the Homestake Adams Research and Cultural Center (HARCC) in Deadwood reveal that the rink measured 60 feet by 360 feet. According to information contained in the August 1963 edition of Sharp Bits, published by Homestake Mine, the rink was operated for many years by a local American Legion post. What do you remember about this rink? Drop us an e-Mail! And you can take a closer look at the structure in our LCHS Photo Gallery.
