Redfern is the site of an old

Black Hills Gold Rush The Black Hills gold rush took place in Dakota Territory in the United States. It began in 1874 following the Custer Expedition and reached a peak in 1876–77. Rumors and poorly documented reports of gold in the Black Hills go back to the earl ...

community. The area is located at the eastern base of Redfern Mountain, 6,076 feet in elevation, in

Pennington County, South Dakota Pennington County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 109,222, making it the List of counties in South Dakota, second most populous county i ...

. The mountain and the Redfern townsite is located on the gravel road to

Mystic, South Dakota Mystic is a ghost town in Pennington County, South Dakota. It began as a placer mining encampment called Sitting Bull in 1876, later attracting multiple railroads to the area. Its population began to decline in the early 20th century, and it no ...

, and is about a mile from the old town site of Tigerville. The Mystic Road is approximately miles from Hill City on the Deerfield Road. Redfern was first established as a Black Hills Gold Rush community in 1876. It was initially named Happy Camp by a group of

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

miners who came from the area of Happy Camp in northern California. California Gulch is located about one mile east of Redfern in rugged hills and gullies. Happy Camp (Redfern) was thus located because of the easily accessible terrain and because it was on the stage coach route to

Deadwood Deadwood may refer to: Places Canada * Deadwood, Alberta * Deadwood, British Columbia * Deadwood River, a tributary of the Dease River in northern British Columbia United States * Deadwood, California (disambiguation), several communit ...

. After the California gold miners got their gold and left, the Happy Camp area became known as 'Windy Flats'. In 1890, the railroad came through the area, building toward Deadwood and the location was then known as Redfern. George Redfern was the railroad construction boss and he built a siding with water towers at the location and it was named after him. The Redfern area is the center of many gold mines, old habitation locations, and timber camps.

References

{{Pennington County, South Dakota Former populated places in Pennington County, South Dakota Mining communities in South Dakota Populated places established in 1876 1876 establishments in Dakota Territory Ghost towns in South Dakota