Black Hills Hot Springs South Dakota Town History
Each year since 2000, the National Trust for Historic Preservation has selected 12 vacation destinations across the United States that offer an authentic visitor experience by combining dynamic downtowns, cultural diversity, attractive architecture, cultural landscapes and a strong commitment to historic preservation and revitalization. Hot Springs South Dakota Is one of these.
The town of Hot Springs was founded in the late 1800's. It was founded not on mining, ranching nor farming, but on the therapeutic value of the 177 springs in our valley. Hot Springs was originally named "Minnekahta," the native word for "warm waters". The town founders, realizing the value of the waters, renamed the town Hot Springs. This assured the town's success, as people came from all over the country by the trainload to take advantage of the healing properties of the waters.
At that time, there were a dozen or so bath houses which prospered on these naturally-occurring waters, including the famous Evans Plunge. In fact, the VA Hospital came here during the civil war, in part because of the healing effects of the waters. The springs exist at the VA to this day, but are no longer in use.
Before Europeans settled in this area, the native population had been using the healing waters for centuries. In fact, it is said they even fought over them. Battle Mountain, a state historic site on the outskirts of town, was named in memory of the major battle between the Lakota and the Sioux Indian tribes over control of the springs.