We’ve all heard the story of the lost city of Atlantis – the ancient city that sunk to the bottom of the ocean, never to be seen again. Well, it’s not exactly Atlantis, but there is definitely a sunken city or two in the Black Hills.

Now nestled on the bottom of Sheridan Lake are the remains of an old town by the same name, except for the “lake” part. The town of Sheridan, South Dakota was founded in 1874-75 and originally called “Golden City” – a name that was eventually changed in honor of General Phillip Sheridan.

It sprang up quickly and became home to hundreds of miners who were hoping to strike it rich. According to some reports, the town really thrived for several years, as it was an important stop on the Denver to Deadwood stage coach route. At its peak, Sheridan had churches, schools, general stores, saloons and even a rarely mentioned “red light district.”

Around the turn of the century, rail lines were increasing elsewhere in the Black Hills and the gold supply near Sheridan was drying up. Because of these changes, resident miners and other locals began drifting north towards Deadwood and other potential gold mining hot spots.

As residents packed up and left, the once  vibrant mining town of Sheridan made the transition to just another one of western South Dakota’s ghost towns.

Details are few and far between, but sometime in the mid 1930’s, the Civilian Conservation Corps began building a dam on Spring Creek, just outside of the now extinct Sheridan. Work on the dam was slowed and halted a few times during World War II, but was eventually finished in 1942.

The result of the dam was the complete flooding over of the town and the creation of the modern Sheridan Lake. Now some 30-40 feet under water, the dreams of many past gold-miners rest quietly on the lake floor. High above on the surface, people come and go, many never knowing the history that lies beneath.