Mapping America: Brushie, South Dakota

Real photo postcard (RPPC) of Brushie, South Dakota

In 1909, Brushie, South Dakota consisted of a post office, two general stores, two weekly newspapers, a photographer, a hotel and land office (see photo). It no longer exists. Home to Germans from the Bessarabian colonies of Friedenstal and Paris for a time.

From the South Dakota 1909 Business Directory: “A postoffice in Meade county, 66 miles northeast of Wasta, the nearest railroad point. Population: 75.” There were two general stores, two weekly newspapers (The Brushie Blade, T.H. Johnson, Editor; and The Brushie Pilot, Balch & Duck, publishers), a photographer, a hotel and a post office. The map marker is on the homestead (SW¼ SE¼ S3 T10N R16E Black Hills PM) of the postmaster, John Reed, on what is now Brushy Creek Road.

Brushie, SD. 44.8493, -102.1567

This was originally a Twitter post, 7 August 2020.

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Sources and Further Reading:

1. Letters from the “Dakota Freie Presse” (7-May-1903 to 1-July-1916), Michael Rempfer, Germans from Russia Heritage Society, accessed September 12, 2019, https://www.grhs.org/research/letters/freie-idx.html
2. Ancestry.com. Family Trees.
3. “The Brushie Blade,” Chronicling America, Library of Congress, accessed August 7, 2020, https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn97065757/
4. Bureau of Land Management, General Land Records, accessed August 7, 2020, https://glorecords.blm.gov/details/patent/default.aspx?accession=276202&docClass=SER&sid=33nwipmj.je5
5. South Dakota 1909 Business Directory, accessed August 7, 2020, http://files.usgwarchives.net/sd/meade/business/brushie-1909.txt
6. GeoHack, Wikimedia Toolforge, accessed August 7, 2020, https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=44_50_57_N_102_9_24_W
7. Google Maps, Google, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.google.com/maps/place/44%C2%B050'57.5%22N+102%C2%B009'24.1%22W/@44.8493038,-102.1588887,720m/data=!3m2!1e3!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d44.8493!4d-102.1567
8. Jim Forte Postal History, South Dakota, accessed August 7, 2020, https://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&searchtext=Brushie&state=sd&county=&searchtype=word
   

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Last updated 26 March 2025