Roubaix (), formerly known as Perry or Lewisville, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Lawrence County,

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

, United States. It is not monitored by the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

Naming

Roubaix was originally called ''Lewisville'', but it was changed to ''Perry'' when the town gained a post office. When the

Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado, Illin ...

began building into the

Black Hills The Black Hills ( lkt, Ȟe Sápa; chy, Moʼȯhta-voʼhonáaeva; hid, awaxaawi shiibisha) is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk P ...

, the town again changed its name to avoid confusion with Terry, which was nearby. ''Roubaix'' was chosen in honor of the hometown of local Frenchman Pierre Wibaux, who was one of the Uncle Sam Mine's main investors.

History

Founding and growth

The mining camp was first settled in 1876. It was first a

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed (Alluvium, alluvial) deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining, open-pit (also called open-cast mining) or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer minin ...

camp, with the primary source of gold being nearby Elk Creek. The town nearly disappeared after the Uncle Sam Mine was shut down in 1880, and a forest fire destroyed a large portion of the town. The grand reopening of Roubaix and its official recognition as a town was marked by a celebration in August 1885 at a beer hall, complete with a dance. In the years following 1891, due to failed mining activity, the town nearly became abandoned. In 1899, Roubaix had 500 residents, a

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

, several stores, a

hospital A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...

, boarding houses, a

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

, a barber shop, a few churches, and its own city hall. There was once a

typhoid fever Typhoid fever, also known as typhoid, is a disease caused by '' Salmonella'' serotype Typhi bacteria. Symptoms vary from mild to severe, and usually begin six to 30 days after exposure. Often there is a gradual onset of a high fever over several ...

epidemic An epidemic (from Ancient Greek, Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of patients among a given population within an area in a short period of time. Epidemics ...

in the area. The town was home to several organizations, including a

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

club, literature group,

whist Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...

club, and a miners' union. Before the early 1900s, there was no designated

school A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compuls ...

building, and classes were held in various buildings around camp.

Local mining operations

Roubaix relied heavily on the Uncle Sam Mine, which was discovered in 1878 and produced gold.

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon-oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall chemical form ...

was later harvested in a one-

stamp mill A stamp mill (or stamp battery or stamping mill) is a type of mill machine that crushes material by pounding rather than grinding, either for further processing or for extraction of metallic ores. Breaking material down is a type of unit operatio ...

that made $50,000. By 1880, the new mine had closed and was flooded. In 1885, more stamps for the

s were brought from Tigerville, and a 60-stamp mill was brought from Esmeralda. By October 1886, after a change in management, the mine began to have trouble with its

water pump A pump is a device that moves fluids (liquids or gases), or sometimes slurries, by mechanical action, typically converted from electrical energy into hydraulic energy. Pumps can be classified into three major groups according to the method they u ...

s. The resulting drop in activity nearly caused Roubaix to become abandoned. In 1898, the Clover Leaf Gold Mining Company arrived, headed by Pierre Wibaux. They bought the mine and repaired the 60-stamp mill, fixed the buildings, brought in a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

, and had

electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as described ...

installed. From 1889 to 1905, Wibaux mined $900,000 worth of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. Most of the

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April 2 ...

was pure, and simple

mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

amalgamation Amalgamation is the process of combining or uniting multiple entities into one form. Amalgamation, amalgam, and other derivatives may refer to: Mathematics and science * Amalgam (chemistry), the combination of mercury with another metal **Pan am ...

allowed for 90% of the ore to be recovered. This new activity revived the town. However, Wibaux's fellow miners began stealing the ore, causing him to lose profits. On June 4, 1905, the fires were pulled to clean the

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, central h ...

s, and the 7th-level sill floor caved in. The water blocked the pumps and caused them to burn out. Pressure from the boiler caused the

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, a ...

to break and flood the lower levels. A

fissure A fissure is a long, narrow crack opening along the surface of Earth. The term is derived from the Latin word , which means 'cleft' or 'crack'. Fissures emerge in Earth's crust, on ice sheets and glaciers, and on volcanoes. Ground fissure A ...

in Elk Creek was supposed, and plans were made to build a

diversion dam A diversion dam is a dam that diverts all or a portion of the flow of a river from its natural course. Diversion dams do not generally impound water in a reservoir; instead, the water is diverted into an artificial water course or canal, which ...

, but it was never executed. The mine was forced to be abandoned. The destruction of the mine caused the town of Roubaix to decline. In 1934, the mine reopened but closed again in 1935, when the Anaconda Gold Mining and Milling Company only mined $10,000 in gold. The land was sold to a private owner in 1937.

Later history and today

The post office continued operation until the 1940s. The shaft house at the mine was destroyed during a windstorm in 1953, and the school was torn down in the 1960s. Today, there are only a few of the old houses left standing. The foundations of the mine can still be seen. The only remnants of the mills are a couple of bullwheels. However, the town still has a very small population. There are no businesses in the town.

Geography

Roubaix is in the

of western Lawrence County, at the coordinates . It is located on the east side of

U.S. Route 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

along Elk Creek and is approximately seven miles south of

Pluma Pluma ( "feather") may refer to: Places * Pluma Hidalgo, a town and municipality in Oaxaca, Mexico * Pluma de Pato, a village and rural municipality in Salta, Argentina Science * Pluma (fish), a name in the West Indies of a fish, ''Calamus ca ...

Climate

References

External links

{{Lawrence County, South Dakota Unincorporated communities in South Dakota Unincorporated communities in Lawrence County, South Dakota Mining communities in South Dakota