With Halloween just around the corner, there’s no shortage of spooky decorations across the country, but one US state has an effortlessly spine-chilling atmosphere of its own. South Dakota is home to a whopping 246 ghost towns, giving it the highest number of abandoned settlements per capita in America.
A new study by Action Network ranked South Dakota as the second-most haunted state, with 27.7 ghost towns per 100,000 residents. It also recorded 428 reported ghost sightings, or 48.2 per 100,000 people, placing fourth nationally.
The ranking considered five factors: reported sightings, cemeteries, haunted locations, abandoned settlements, and monthly Google searches for ghost-related terms. But South Dakota’s eerie reputation has roots stretching back centuries.
Once There Was Gold…
Much of the state’s ghost town history dates back to the Black Hills gold rush of the 1870s. Mining communities sprang up almost overnight, only to be abandoned when their resources ran dry.
One surviving reminder is Rochford, which attracted more than 500 residents by the end of 1878. Today, around 10 people remain in the former mining settlement, nicknamed the friendliest ghost town in the Black Hills.
Rockerville has an even stranger reputation. The former mining town, which once housed more than 1,000 people, is now home to the Gaslight Restaurant & Saloon, where staff and visitors have reportedly encountered the ghost of a well-dressed man named Samuelson Harney.
The transparent figure is said to appear at the entrance to welcome customers and occasionally play pranks on employees. According to Travel South Dakota, the spirit supposedly followed the restaurant’s bar, counter, and footrail from the historic Harney Hotel in Rapid City, which was demolished in 1976.
Now Just Echoes Of The Past
Abandoned settlements aren’t the only source of South Dakota’s spooky reputation. Several historic properties have developed reputations for unexplained encounters.
At the Hotel Alex Johnson in Rapid City, an employee reportedly saw a black shadow figure dart across a hallway after hearing three loud bangs. Another housekeeper claimed to have spotted a little boy in the lobby, only for him to disappear when she approached. The hotel is also associated with the Lady in White, a mysterious apparition supposedly seen wandering its eighth floor.
The Homestake Opera House in Lead has its own unsettling stories. Performers and employees have reportedly encountered shadowy figures in the basement, heard unexplained voices from dressing rooms, and noticed movement around the stage when nobody else was there.
Of course, these encounters are reported stories, not proof of supernatural activity. Action Network also counted ghost towns separately from haunted locations, identifying just 13 supposedly haunted sites in South Dakota.
Still, with 246 abandoned settlements, 428 reported sightings, and a second-place national ranking, South Dakota has no shortage of eerie history. For anyone exploring its forgotten mining communities this Halloween, some of the state’s most unsettling stories may be hiding in places where people once lived, worked, and dreamed of striking gold.
