south dakota's original 1880 town

This is an original old western town. There is a small museum before you actually enter the town. It contains a lot of old buildings that are very interesting to see. It is well worth the visit. There is a gift shop and a restaurant outside the grounds.

We live in SD and had driven by this tourist attraction many times without stopping. Last summer on our way to the Black Hills we decided to stop and check it out. We left a few hours later pleasantly surprised by the experience. Yes some things could use more up keep as some reviewers have mentioned but what they fail to realize is this isn't run by a corporation with unlimited funds that can run out and fix everything that needs fixing. It is a small town that has mostly volunteers working there in their free time and a few paid employees, . They have limited funds. The entry prices are low and help cover daily expenses such as employees, security for overnight, gas, water, electricity (rural electric is expensive), garbage pickup, repairs (people like to be destructive), TP and soaps in rest rooms, cat food for the cats people complain of smells from, if they didn't have cats the place would be over run with mice and other prairie animals that populate quickly, so the fees for are reasonable. This place is worth the money. They have movie memorabilia, antiques everywhere, shows, you can also dress in vintage clothes for the experience if you would like to and make sure to go on the buggy ride this was the best fun. There is lots to see and do for the small fee charged. Well worth the stop.

Most of the town was fine except for the 50s train diner, which smelled like rotten grease. The smell was so bad infact that my elderly mother couldn't handle it, and puked in the grass because she couldn't make it to the rest rooms.

This place was a nice place to stop and stretch our legs and get a little history lesson at the same time. Although some of the buildings are a bit shabby (consider they could be over 100 yrs. old), others are nicely renovated and/or used on a movie set. The Dances with Wolves set brought back memories although for our kids they had no idea what the sets were about. We did notice a smell of cat urine in some buildings and cats running around but I guess that adds to the Old West character. We spent nearly 2 hours here and got our money worth. It was a lot better than I had expected. There were coupons for this place in the travel brochures we found at the gas stations in SD. There is a bit of walking between a few of the exhibits on the far end of town.

We stopped on a lark and were so glad. This is a brilliant place. In and effort to keep historic prairie buildings from destruction they have been brought from all over SD to this site. It is like walking down the main street in a western movie. So, so cool. Worth the stop.

This place was a surprise for me - I don't like "tourist traps" and I assumed this was one. It was actually very cool. Lot's of history. Even a "saloon" with live music and sarsaparilla soda. Great for kids and the whole family.

This "town" was brought together for a movie set and has survived to showcase what a 1880's town might have looked like. This attraction definitely is more set for families with elementary school children to give them a surreal experience including their being able to dress up in clothing of the period. They will enjoy it.

We stumbled upon this on our way to Mount Rushmore. What a great place. Many old-time buildings to see. The saloon was our favorite.

It is kind of neat seeing some of this antique stuff, but it is a bit over priced. As mentioned in some of the other reviewsm you do see quite a bit of mouse poo in the exhibits and the resident cats leave a bit of odour in a couple of the buildings. I guess that just makes it more "authentic" :)I can appreciate the time and effort it took to put the "collection" together, but it would be nice if it was kept in better condition. It looks pretty neglected, even if it is a Pioneer Town.

If you like roadside attraction this is a must see. A lot of interesting history information. My favorite was the Saloon. Plus I got to pet the camel that was grazing in the pasture.

This was so fun! Our kids (ages 8 and 10) loved this place. It is history and fun combined! We stopped here on our way back home from the black hills. It was on our list of must-dos! It feels authentic and our kids loved the cowboy show. The families and kids at the saloon loved the experience to dress up and order old fashioned root beer while watching the comedy/music show. We enjoyed touring the town, but thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of the props form the movie "Dances with wolves". It was really cool. We spent more time here that we had anticipated and would definitely recommend adding the 1880s town to your road trip list of places to see. This is a must for the road trip experience!

The history of how they brought all these building together to form this town is amazing.You almost get a real life feel of how a town would have been in the late 1800's.I thought the saloon was the beat part of the town although the train station and trains were great.We never did ask why they have a camel?The museum, which is off to the left as you exit the main building was very impressive.Upstairs they have many memorabilia from the movie "Dances With Wolves".We only paid $9 apiece in Sept. 2014, they gave us 1$ off with my AARP membership.This attraction is seasonal and not open all year. If you are into this type on thing you will enjoy it.

Wow, what an unexpected surprise this little stop turned out to be. Not only can you see what life must have been like back in the day as there are homes, stores, a bank, post office, school, etc., but there is a fabulous Dances with Wolves exhibit which is a MUST for die-hard fans. You can also rent an old west costume and parade around and have fun. A little pricy I thought at $12 a person to get in, but you can spend two hours there, have some fun, and help support this lovely little outpost and tribute to the past.

For the history buff, a true admirer of the old west this town isca must see visit! Use yourimagination travel back to days of thr calvary, viewing military collections of Custer andmemorabilia from kevin Coster movie dancing with wolves, buildings used in movie setrecreate the era and the panoramic site before you gives you the feeling you are a timetraveler for a day, the saloon offers food and drinks, great art work there, there's atrain too, there the horse from dancing with wolves now a momument piece, and maybeyou will see one of the 170 ghosts that reside there, if you're a fan of Gunsmoke,Bonanza, the tv westerns and just love the era of the Cowboys, horses, and calvaryyou must put this on too do visit list, saddle up, partners, adventure is calling you!

This is RIGHT off of I90 you don't have to drive miles to get to it! It is $12 per person, but OH so worth it! My Husband and I's first encounter was with "one eyed" Norman and he set the tone for the whole town. He explained how to walk through everything to make sure you see all that they offered. He made sure we had our camera and encouraged us to take as many pictures as we want. This truly puts everything into perspective for you. There were no cell phones, no computers, no way to check on anything except for actually talking to one another during those times. Everything was on a smaller scale and it was refreshing to know that not everything has to be XXL!Everything in the 1880 Town was used at one point in time from the 1880's- to now. They are all original and they have been moved in to this area to re-create an old west main street. All original boarding, shingles, windows, woodwork everything! You can even see the spur marks on the stairs in the hotel from when the cowboys came down for breakfast! The Saloon, only serves soft drinks and a few snacks, but knowing and being in the same place that our ancestors utilized as their 'bar' made me speechless. It's truly amazing to see how far we all have come in society. The pictures don't do it justice, I would suggest instead of wasting your money at Starbucks, Flip for the $12 and take a step into history!Will return to this place and gladly pay $12, just to experience it again.