Sylvan Lake, Black Hills, South Dakota, 1913

About this postcard

A rowboat rests on the water in the foreground of Sylvan Lake, with blocky granite outcroppings rising beyond the shore and a red-roofed building set among the trees on the far bank. The lake sits in a basin in the Black Hills of western South Dakota, where weathered rock formations and pine forest frame the water. In 1913 the surrounding country was national forest land; Custer State Park, which now contains the lake, was established in 1919. Summer visitors reached the Hills by rail and continued by wagon road to scenery like this, and the lake's still water and granite walls made it one of the region's most photographed views.