A new investigative series follows Sturgis’s public finances through budgets, audits, and council records, separating what the documents establish from what remains unknown.Read More →
In October 1966, Sturgis declared a rabies epidemic after cases involving dogs, cats, and skunks alarmed the community. Police were authorized to destroy certain animals roaming after dark. Four years later, the city faced another emergency. The surviving records reveal a largely forgotten chapter of Sturgis history.Read More →
The Sturgis Chamber says it was founded in 1946. The historical record tells a much longer story. By 1897, the Sturgis Commercial Club was already promoting the city, and over the next century it became deeply involved in roads, Fort Meade, Bear Butte Lake, tourism, the Motorcycle Rally, and even city-funded economic development.Read More →
How a broke South Dakota town drank its way out of debt in 1914, did it again in 1935, and never stopped. In 1935, just two years after Prohibition ended, the people of Sturgis voted for the city to go into the liquor business. There was only one problem: theRead More →
Hiking in the Black Hills has a long history. It was one of the activities that brought the first tourists to the state. Already in 1930, Gypsy Tours were being held that led individuals on hikes throughout the hills. It’s an activity that has been melded into the area. FortyRead More →
How does the Mexican-American War lead to the development of Sturgis? Well in an exceptionally complicated manner, of course. But where there is this level of complication, there is a story worth telling. And that story starts with Texas. In October of 1835, a rebellion began in what would becomeRead More →
What’s in a name? For Sturgis, it’s been a lot. While Sturgis was named after Col. Samuel Sturgis, who was the commandant at Fort Meade from 1879 to 1881, many would call it Scooptown in its early years. The name Scooptown was taken from an earlier settlement near Bear ButteRead More →
Sturgis was the obvious site for a new county seat when Meade County was created. It was the largest city in the area, they were the ones who fought hardest for the new county, and for years before the county was official, they had operated as if they truly wereRead More →
With Meade County finally being organized in March of 1889, the fight for the county seat was now on. Throughout the journey of becoming a county, many who looked at the situation assumed it would be Sturgis who would take the title. Others had different plans though. A few contendersRead More →
In 1889, Meade separated from Lawrence County. One could argue it was more of a formality, as the citizens of Sturgis, and the larger area, had already separated themselves from the rest of Lawrence County. In many ways, Meade had begun as a rogue county; a county set on changingRead More →