All I can think about when I see places like that are all the good times that must have been had there. It's so sad to see them end up like that and vandals come in and destroy what isn't theirs. Thanks for the tour.
I agree. Families settled, children raised, schools and churches places of happy gatherings. Also real life sadness and losses, but meaningful life stories. My thought about vandals is that they have among the lowest level of character and self-respect, leave alone respect for others.
One of the comments hinted that it would be a good place to [ get away from it all] and I agree. No where for folks like antifa and similar minded WOKE groups, to get their 15 minutes of fame.
There’s a lot of dead towns in at area of the country N. And S. Dakota Montana a lot of them were railroad towns that have died off over the years. This town of lily still seems relatively intact and a pretty solid little town. Thank you for sharing.
My Father's Final Parish was at the Lutheran in Lily-Butler, he passed away in May of 1978, they lived in the Parsonage on the east of the Railroad Tracks. The Railroad stopped running in the late 1970's
In the early 1970's I worked with a fellow named Henry Graber on a road construction crew, the other guys said he was the mayor of Lily, he was a great guy.
County governments usually have a local government formation process, whereby towns or cities may apply to become incorporated. The people wishing to form the new incorporated town must show the town is viable and provide the services (police, fire, fire, water, etc.) for It’s population. In the inverse, the county may disincorporate a town or city when it can’t meet its obligations or has been shown to be corrupt.
@dopedrums no,it's a hamlet! A village is next up,on the list, then a town,then a city which some claim must have 70,000plp to qualify! This is neither its a dead hamlet,not even a pisshole ! To qualify as a pisshole, one has to be traveling along a designated route to and fro, and stop for refreshments and take a piss! When there's not a lot of traffic or none,it's definitely not a water hole to stop and piss! In this case, it's a dead hamlet,but someone is flying your us flag,and plowing the main drag! But the price of real-estate here would be cheap! Don't forget your 4 corner country hamlets that used to exist with a gas station,a general store,all gone !
Things return to dust over time and memories fade. "If this short life is all there is to hope for, then the soul is to be pitied." Thanks for sharing.
I would love to live in a town like that. Kind of makes you wonder if old abandoned homes like the ones you found could ever be renovated and lived in again. Thanks for the video.
I've lived in a small rural village, with just a gas station and coffee bar,it had 2 billiards tables in back,surprisingly! The Blythewood general store had an old fashioned mail crib where she worked behind the screened in cage! Those of you need to realize,although this village life had some basic groceries, that city life is completely different from living out in the sticks! In town,you can probably walk to your corner store or grocery store and buy "just one item,be it bread pop,chips or smokes! This all changes when you are out in the boonies you buy 3 or 4 leaves of bread,3 bottles of pop,or a case,and likewise some other things so you don't burn up your gas and vehicle chasing just one item! Vehicles,need 2 one is your daily driver the other is your backup buggy,in case # 1 breaks down and you need parts or get to the hospital. If it's not plated ,in an emergency, all that matters is that you keep starting it once a month, and move it around so it gets lubricated.(You probably should plate it!) Don't let it get low on gas, and keep your battery charged just in case. Living in the stix requires a totally different mentality! You have to fix your problem yourself,9 out of 10 times!
@@davidrussell8795 I could totally do that. I'm retired, and I've got a routine established where I do major shopping once a week to ensure I have everything I need. I prepare meals and freeze them so I'll have food for almost an entire month, and I'm used to living alone so I don't get depressed. My car is a little one, and older, but I keep it up and get it repaired when necessary. As long as I'm within perhaps an hour of a major-ish city, I'm good. If you know of a small town that has older yet decent housing, I'm all ears! Thanks for your advice!
@DraysWorld the word "razing" is how you spell it,(not raising)demolishing old buildings! Yet ,I think the word itself gets ya thinking you'll be building! a new building!
As an illinoisan I've always enjoyed traveling thru the great plains states, in the western parts the land is virtually unchanged except irrigation in some places. It's so peaceful and people are very friendly. I hate to see our history in that part of tge country get abandoned.
Seeing all of the homeless people living on the streets in so many cities makes me wonder if something could be done to solve two problems… If a homeless person “homesteaded” an abandoned property for a period of time, making it livable let them remain there.
Just ran across this video as I was scrolling through RU-vid.Thanks for sharing this. I live not far from Lily now and have been meaning to go check it out and learn some of the history.Really enjoyed your video.
Lily looks a lot like the farm towns we have in Manitoba. The Interlake region in particular has nearly identical communities, all in various states of liveliness. Take a look at the village of Fisher Branch on Street view; it looks like what Lily would've looked like if it were still thriving today.
The interesting thing is that it's the only abandoned town in the state to be officially dissolved ad far as i can see. Most other abandoned towns in the state were from when we had the gold boom and most were out in the hills. Though a few kept going for a while. There is one called Spokane up in the hills. It was abandoned around the 60s I think. Better check it out before its gone, the past few years some buildings have collapsed
norwegian grandma is from the Black Hills. got a little frenchman in her from New Hampshire. It wasn't cold enough so they homesteaded in Canada. I had the honour as the oldest to actually work in the fields with them.
Elevators popped up every 7 miles on rail lines because that's the max distance a farmer could get his grain to it in a one day's travel. Naturally towns grew up around those drop off points. With larger machinery came larger farms and these small towns died. That is sad.
It seems to me that these towns die out because the best of their young people move away looking for greener pastures. When that happens a town is doomed.
To add for my earlier entry. Good job on reporting on this town. I am a little sad watching this again but change is always happening. Even if you wish it didn't. Good job.
Shouldn't educate them except farming,20 years ago my dentist was Irish known for fixing the roads after he numbed my gum i asked him who fixes the road's in Ireland? He smiled the English
@@l.a.3479 Your missing the point, You don't give them a choice,By keeping them off school damages their education or some other means so farming is what's left,It's morally wrong but often the farm is home and a source of income, How do we manage to get so many beggars and druggies? Fool's who ventured into the city? For a better life and ended up homeless
This was so cool! Found your channel by seeing the video from Palmer’s…that’s about 5mins from me and a friend shared it. Scrolling your videos and really enjoyed this one. Something very cool about finding an abandoned town like that, especially seeing it buried in the snow. It was beautiful!!
Hi. Being from South Dakota, I will offer the pronunciation of Pierre - the state capital. It is "Pier" as in what goes out into a lake to tie boats to. Good video.
That there is. There’s at least one family living there and it appeared one other property possibly occupied, likely during the summer farming months Thanks for watching
Hermosa imágenes del exterior, ya se nota el abandono en las casas. Es una lastima que la economía defina donde se establece la gente y no donde quiere vivir. Gracias por compartirlo..
I love South Dakota . If I had it all over to do over , I would have stayed and lived there . I was stationed at Ellsworth AFB . Rapid City . Had a friend from Sioux Falls 340 miles from Rapid on interstate 90 . I dated a girl from Spearfish “ Got a friend who lives in Sturgis. ! Love SD
i have a passion to take drives and take photos of all sorts of things one is the old houses/farmsteads that have been abandoned. I had a dream and always thought going from county to county and take photos of abandoned houses and towns. No idea how many counties there is in South Dakota but what an adventure that would be. In reality would assume could go to the county seat and find out who built the house/barn etc when they were built a lot of information is still available.
West of watertown SD another small village guess it would be called the name is Tinkertown. Years ago it was a little spot along hwy 212 what a place to stop. It was full of antiques including an old time player piano they would always fire up. Out side they had a slab of cement and used it for dances. if my memory is correct it has been closed since the later 70`s.
About 7-10 years ago I was in Lily. The museum, the person was trying to open a museum and had a stage because he was in a band to hold concerts. There was an old cafe there. Last I knew he worked at a car dealer in Groton.
No gas in a remote town,can be a real problem! No ev charger here!!our local gas station closed, nearest one is a good 20 miles away! Scary if you don't have extra gas and a ride if you don't know anybody in town!
Very interesting vid, wonder what it is like in summer and is that car valuable? If I could point out one thing; although you found it latched, you left that outhouse door unlatched (tongue not in receptacle) when you casually pushed it shut. Tut tut.. Now it will just swing slowly in the wind with an eerie creaking sound as it bangs ominously against the doorframe.......sparking a distant memory in the last couple who live there of the young mysterious traveller who tramped through Lilly one winter's day so many years before...
Your imagination is strong. I wonder if that door is flapping in the wind right now.. although I’m pretty sure I latched it properly after i stopped filming. At least I think I did. I guess I’ll have to go back in the summer to find out. Thanks for watching!
My vacations consist of exploring small towns. I think I passed through Lily in 2016? I was coming back east from trip to Yellowstone. Many abandoned towns in area if I recall.
@DraysWorld - I'm curious as to why you went exploring this little town in winter. There would have been more to see and explore if it wasn't covered in snow. I live about 6 hours north of there.
From what I have heard about South Dakota, it sounds like a great place to live especially with the current Governor Noem in charge. But I am also old enough (74) to remember Laura Ingalls Wilder's book "The Long Winter " when it was EXTREMELY cold with EXTREME amounts of snow. For my part, I would want a good supply of food stored up.
It was extremely cold that day of filming. I was well protected with good gear, thankfully. As I was wandering around, I imagined the pioneers and how they survived those long winters. Thanks for watching.
I'm 67,but when my gramma Russell was alive back on the 60s before she died and probably through her rural country life,she canned a lot of fruits and vegetables. The cupboards went to the ceiling 8" by 10'ish long. Large family! These were the storeage cupboards she filled with food stuffs. Today,we rely on 1 or 2 weeks worth of groceries ,between paychecks! Recent snow storms kept a lot of ppl home,but food runs out!and drinking water! Like in a movie where a retired cop hijacks a bus! His favorite line was"Always be prepared Jack!". The apocalypse is here!
Yes. My Grandmother who lived in the rural Tri '- state area of N.C., Tenn., & Geo. also canned. I believe that is something that would be of benefit to us today.
@earllutz2663 The only problem with canning is you need to do it right or you could end up with bad rotten, dangerous food with bacteria or Salmonella in it! Salmonella kills,or can make you very sick! So,you need to know what you're doing,and date the bottles and use them up.
Is it for sale? Do you do other "ghost towns"? We just visited one in the pnw that is for sale. Right on the water, former mining logging and fish processing town.
