Homestake Gold Mine

The Homestake Gold Mine was located on a site developed by George Hearst, who purchased the claim in the nineteenth century. In 1876, four prospectors had located gold in the Black Hills before it attracted the likes of Hearst, a California mining magnate.

George Hearst made a good fortune from the gold coming out of the Homestake Mine. At one point in time he even tried a career in politics, eventually earning a Senate seat through appointment rather than by being elected. He bought the San Francisco Examiner in 1880, which started a newspaper empire that his son, William Randolph, took over.

William was a spoiled only child who had an aimless life before deciding the newspaper business was for him. In fact, he created a new form of sensationalism called "yellow journalism." He managed to weed out the competition, however, he had squandered his father's fortune in the process and ultimately lost the newspaper empire on top of everything else.

Today Homestake is no longer an operating mine but you can visit its museum. The Homestake Mine was the oldest, deepest mine in the western hemisphere at the time, reaching a staggering 8,000 feet below the town.