White Butte, South Dakota – A Mysterious Roadside Ruin
White Butte, South Dakota – A Mysterious Roadside Ruin
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Sitting on the side of the road, White Butte, South Dakota is easy to miss. Today, it’s in complete ruin and only a couple of buildings remain standing, but the town once was home to around 100 people and had its own post office. We nearly passed this town by and stumbled upon it by accident, but was a nice challenge to find a ruin that we knew nothing about, film it, and then piece together the clues and history later. We had nothing to work with – I didn’t initially even have a name. What little information could be found in research is contained in this video.
Its very common for rental cars to be used to run drugs
You should totally go to Animas Forks sometime! Not only has it got quite a story behind it, it’s also in great condition (for being a ghost-town) and it is relatively accessable (again, for being a ghost-town). It’d be great!
Love the ghost town videos, it always makes you wonder about the people that lived there. Please tell me what music you played in the background, it is so pretty. Thank you!
I’ve always wondered when examining old homesteads like this if anyone who had ever called it home could still be alive. I imagine the child whose wallpaper could be seen may very well be.
The hole in the floor that you referred to was a fuel oil furnace and has a grill over it that could be walked on. Very common and we had one up til the 70’s.
That’s a good idea
On this trip, did you happen to check out Merricourt, ND? I was doing work in that area a few years ago and stumbled upon it. There was only one or two residents and most buildings were reduced to foundations. There were a few houses, the shell of a brick bank building (with vault), and a large Quonset-style community center that was still standing and explorable, but rapidly deteriorating. There was some pretty interesting history online too including a fascinating story about a prize fighter who got mixed up with the law and killed a sheriff.
I love the way you narrate your videos, the blend of research & exploration, adding in historical photos & current footage.
Makes me wish I’d filmed all the out of the way places I & my family have visited over the past 15+ years; some we planned & others we stumbled over. The original goal, to teach the kid what was missing in his school curriculum (basing the trips on clusters of NPS properties), grew to be more fun & impromptu when we added side stops at abandoned mines, Ghost towns, Guinness World Record attractions & locally suggested oddities.
Hoping to get to Alaska, our 50th state to visit, next summer. Kid outgrew the Jr Ranger program, but those badges are the last few he’ll need to have them all. If I’m lucky I can find places that tie back into his schooling, but by then he’ll be a Jr in uni and might not appreciate it!
Anyway, it’s short & interesting vids like this that make me a bit nostalgic, but more grateful that I’ve been lucky enough to travel as we have.
Thank you, be safe & happy travels! 💜
You should look into electric city in Nova Scotia
I need a key
The hole in the floor was a floor furnace. If I’m not mistaken.
The old TV makes me laugh 😃
With the cost of housing here I ought to get my white a$$ to White Butte.
lets all go live there and re-populate it, we can even make our own cult 😀
4:45
Not gonna lie, your lady spooked me after appearing out of the exposure here.
Wooden structures don’t last long without constant maintenance.
Why build a structure so recently only for it to disappear within the space of 20 years?
Once again young man a great video…. and as always thank you for taking us on the adventure.
As an Englishman what is considered a town in America?, because in England a 100 person settlement is a village and a town would have to have a few thousand people up to a few hundred thousand people whilst a city is a settlement with a cathedral, I often see American places with less than a few hundred people be called towns and towns without cathedrals be called cities, so how are they defined in America
Fair due Tom dedication to get a a speeding ticket glad all was OK in the end though. Love the video cheers 😀💗
would love to hear the getting arrested story
Huh huh white Butt🤘
Hey I just discovered the story of a maritime disaster in New York City; the S.S. Observation, which exploded and sank in September of 1932. It seems few people know about it, and I’m finding a lot of newspaper info out about it including many pictures too. This seems like it’d be worth your time to look into. Perhaps even a video.
Nice video Tom. I’ve always loved South Dakota and have even dreamed of living there. Love your channel!
Love binge watching your documentaries
Beautiful filming guys.
Spent some time in Renner, SD last year. It was a great experience. Toured a family farm from the 1800s… very cool
The last Bennigans?! Lol!
I have to tell you, i just discovered your channel and i love it! For some reason they way you do your video’s really relaxes me. Keep the video’s coming please!! One question, where is your accent from? Im from Baltimore and it sounds pretty close! OH and do some Maryland video’s when you get a chance!
I rode through there about 30 years ago, wasn’t quite dead yet, dang…
That is old gravity furnace. No ductwork, just a hole in the floor with a vent and usually just open vent holes to the upper levels.
Check out the video, by Scotty Kilmer, about why Hertz rental customers have been getting arrested.
please tell the speeding ticket story!!!!!!!
There is a furnace in the basement below that hole in the floor of the two story house. Probably wood or coal fired. You are looking at the outside of the firebox.
To Tom
I’m from Michigan and find the content by your type of YouTube channel lacking in the Great Lake shipwrecks area and would love if you made a even ten minute video in between huge projects about a relatively unknown shipwreck up here or a retelling of the Fitz Bradley or Morel. It could take down some nasty myths about these wrecks or open up discussion for parts we really don’t know much about.
From a fan
Great wallpapers and paint color. They speak to a more vibrant culture than we have today.
I’m thinking of our mean looking cars with black wheels. Our cars tend to be painted painted white, black or some military green or grey.
The hole in the floor was a type of furnace to heat the house there would have been more to it tho and a grate over the top of it all.
Must have been run by Democrats. 😂
Make a video on the ss brother Johnathan. It was a ship used during the gold rush. Prospectors used it to get to California and other parts of the west. It also spread disease. It shipwrecked when it hit a rock. A general and a surveyor who knew Lincoln died in the wreck. Lots of gold was in the wreck. I think this would make a very good video and it fits in on this channel.
You should go to Spokane Ghost Town in S.D. it’s in the Black Hills.
Just curious but when is the giveaway cloased.
I love the guitar!! Who’s the artist???
👍👍
With a market for antique, naturally aged lumber, I am surprised some of those timbers are still left there.
Coal furnace…maybe converted to oil. We had those in NY
Thank you for spreading awareness to everyone for these small abandoned towns! I am trying to get a section of my Historical Society dedicated to the many many ghost towns of my county. There were A LOT and they are all either completely gone with no evidence that they were ever there or still a couple remaining residents devoid of any businesses and no longer part of the town name. Instead labeled "- –Township" Not even the residents know the name of the town they live in.
Fun Fact: Weathered lead paint peels in square and rectangle shapes. Take caution, you two.
beautiful
Would love to know how you research these places, I’m fascinated by the history of ghost towns but I can’t seem to find anything about any of them.
That guitar is infuriating. Had to turn the sound down. I wouldn’t use that again if I was you