Now for a little before and after shots....

This is the messy living room as we bought it...then with Dads stuff arranged.

It's the DUSEL...

Deep Underground Scientific and Engineering Lab

The former Homestake Mine is now home to the Sanford Underground Laboratory. Next year the lab will be turned over to the National Science Foundation for operated and greatly expanded. The Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab (DUSEL) at Homestake will address the underground needs of all of the major scientific fields included in the National Science Foundation solicitation process: particle and nuclear physics, geology, hydrology, geo-engineering, biology, and biochemistry. Homestake is the deepest mine in North America with rooms at 8000 ft., well-suited for experiments that require shielding from cosmic rays arriving from space: in particular, the search for dark matter. Large detectors will be used for long baseline neutrino experiments using beams from US accelerator laboratories located at far from Homestake. The large number of tunnels, shafts, boreholes, dedicated access and well known patterns of water flow will allow studies of the dynamics of the earth’s crust. The dedicated access and the diverse geology at Homestake are well-suited for studies of microbiology and life at extreme depth. DUSEL funding will bring billions of dollars into the local economy.

Being completely into the Earth Sciences as a family you can see why this excites us!

Now for a little history....

Lead became, and now is becoming what it is due to the Homestake Mine.





The Homestake Gold Mine was one of the early enterprises associated with the Gold Rush of 1876 in the northern Black Hills of what was then Dakota Territory. The mining community of Deadwood was the center of the gold fever, with tents, sawmills, log houses and saloons springing up seemingly overnight. But the real action would happen three miles away "over the hill" where brothers Fred and Moses Manuel and their partner Hank Harney located their Homestake claim on April 9, 1876. Moses liked what he saw in an outcropping of a vein of ore, referred to as a lead and pronounced "leed". Soon more prospectors materialized, and no time was lost in selecting a site for a new town. On July 10th work began on laying out the town lots, and that work was completed the next day. Miners were offered the lots, 50x100 feet, but were required to build on the lots in 60 days or forfeit them. That spurred many on to build on the front half and then sell the back half. Progress came quickly. Telegraph service began December 1st and by early 1877 four hotels, a grocery store, saloon, bakery and butcher shop were up and running.





With a population of 8,392 in 1910, Lead was the second largest community in South Dakota. The employment opportunities for not only miners, but also laborers and mechanics were excellent. The Homestake Opera House and Recreation Building were constructed as gifts to the community from the company. Tickets had to be purchased for events in the Opera House, but the use of the swimming pool, bowling alley, meeting rooms and library was free. I look forward to going to a show at the Opera House.





The city and its residents prospered as a result of the mine. In the early 1930's, as the rest of the nation suffered economic hardship throughout the Great Depression, the management of Homestake set a shorter work week with an increase in wages, and provided end of year bonuses to workers.





During World War II, gold mining operations were suspended by order of the War Production Board. The young men of the city joined the armed forces, moved to locations where copper mines were operating or worked in airplane factories. The older men who remained in what was by then an almost deserted town worked in the Homestake foundry or machine shop producing goods needed for the war effort, including parts for airplanes, wrenches and hand grenades.





In September of 2000 a Homestake Mining Company spokesman announced that the mine would close. In January of 2002, the Homestake Gold Mine finally shut down after more than 125 years in business.

Lead was built up so fast that some houses seem right on top of each other. Some of the roads are very steep and not even plowed in the winter for ones own safety. I will post more town shots later..it's quite quaint.

Hurray hot water!

So immediately after the water was turned on we KNEW there was a problem. New plumbing and all we had a few broken pipes from improper winterizing. Plumber came, only 2 hours to repair...and I was prepared for 2 days! Geez! We purchased a new hotwater heater, Steve installed it and we are ready to roll! So nice...

Surprise #1

So we moved in to our fixer upper last weekend. All utilities are rolling,,,,except the water...
Yeh, surprise #1. Got the plumber coming on Wednesday. Sounded like Niagra Falls inside a wall...Good news is it isn't frozen from the South Dakota winter. Stay tuned, pictures soon.

Closing Finally.............

Yesterday after skiing we did our "walk through". Everything looked the same. Since it was a forclosure it is kinda messy. We close on Tuesday, March 30 at 11:00. I am pretty excited for this. Steve will be outta town all next week which I am sure will really bother him. Especially since all we have been wanting to do is to get in there and starting cleaning and sorting through stuff. Bushes like the above are everywhere and big. I am hoping they are Lilacs. In Virginia the deer would always eat the one I planted right when it was about it bloom. The history of Lead (Leed) Deadwood area will come shortly. Also postings of our finding and experiences. Especially while reroofing her.

Well, we still haven't closed on the cottage, but we do finally have paperwork signed back from the selling bank. It seems that now it is official but more paperwork is needed to proceed to the "grand finale"! This past saturday we went skiing again. Afterwards we swung by and had a picnic on the porch of "our" house. Pretty funny. I am not sure but I think we need the house more than it needs us. We are excited to get up there and start cleaning up the yard/house/and garages. They are full of stuff!

Waiting.....

I wasn't going to post again so soon and meant to wait until we actually close on the house which is supposed to be this coming friday. However, Steve and I went skiing this past Friday, swung by the house (just making sure it is still there ;^) and met one of the neighbors. She was really nice and happy for us. It has made us so excited to get up there and start cleaning up the place that I couldn't help myself today. I will be posting some of the history of Lead, and eventually listing work that has been "done" to the house, and most likely a todo list. Pictures before and after will also follow.

Our adventure is about to begin........

Our long wait is about to pay off...

Steve and I are about to purchase a cottage in Lead, SD. It is about 45 minutes from our home in Black Hawk. It is a bank repo-fixer upper with alot of the work needed being already done. Advantages for staying there will be spitting distance from Mystic Miner which is our ski area we enjoy frequenting. In the summer it will be much cooler up there with the higher elevation of 5300+. Ill write more about this historic little mining town later. It is so quaint, and we are very excited.