Category: Ghost Towns

Tinton in the fifties

I’ve been testing a new piece of software to convert old black & white negative to positive images in order to archive some of the old medium format negatives that Watson Parker and Hugh Lambert shot for their ghost town research. On this particular trip, Dr. Parker was accompanied by lifelong friend Hugh Lambert, who co-authored “Black Hills Ghost Towns”, and Hugh’s first wife Jackie.

These images were taken by Hugh K. Lambert, using a Hasselblad camera, presumably on Kodak film. They’ve been restored using Lightroom and a demo of Negative Lab Pro.

All images © James W. Parker. No image may be used without express written permission.

Cascade, SD

One of the more picturesque ghost towns in the southern Black Hills, Cascade was south of Hot Springs a few miles. According to Watson, the town was founded in 1888 to take advantage of the warm mineral springs in the area. An ornate, four-story hundred-room hotel was built, and 36 city backs laid out and partially developed. By 1900, it had only a post office and 25 people, distributed over 16 houses.

In the 1950’s the W. Allen Bank building, the Fargo Store, and the Cascade Club still stood on the south side of Highway 87. The bank building is now occupied, having been restored some years ago, but the Cascade Club, with its bowling alley behind, has long since disappeared.

Images from Cascade, SD

These images are from Dr. Parker’s archives, shot on negative 620 film, during several visits to the town in the fifties and sixties.