For a ghost town enthusiast, Maitland is a can’t-miss! This nineteenth century mining town still has original buildings, as well as mining equipment, scattered throughout the area.
Maitland got its start as a mining town called Garden City in 1877 during the rush of the Black Hills Gold Rush. It was a productive mining area, with mines like Beltram, Columbus, Echo, Gold Eagle, and Penobscot all operating around the town, drawing miners to settle in Garden City.
In 1902, the town’s future namesake, Alexander Maitland, took control of the Penobscot Mine. Maitland was born in Scotland in 1844, but his family immigrated to Canada when he was young. He moved to Michigan and was later elected governor, but later found his way to the Black Hills to carve out his piece of the gold rush.
The town prospered with all of the up-and-coming mining operations. By 1903, Alexander Maitland’s mine had a 40-ton stamp mill. A 1915 map showed about 50 homes and businesses in town.
Although the ore was rich, there was a long process to extract the $30/ton value. Various people ran the mine until 1915. For a short period in the 1930s, it was run by Canyon Corporation, but interest had dwindled in the mine and the town as a whole. In 1950, the stamp mill burned down, a fitting end to the once prosperous mining town.
Maitland is outside Deadwood and Central City. It can be found on Maitland Road just south of Deadwood at the turn off near Blacktail.