Lead, South Dakota

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Lead (pronounced as "leed") is a city in Lawrence County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 3,027 at the 2000 census. Lead is located in western South Dakota, in the Black Hills near the Wyoming state line. The town was officially founded in 1876 after the discovery of gold. It is the site of the Homestake Mine, the largest and most productive gold mine in the Western Hemisphere before closing in 2001.

[edit] Geography

Lead is located at 44°21′3″N, 103°45′57″W (44.350967, -103.765784)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.2 km² (2.0 mi²), all land.

Lead has been assigned the ZIP code 57754 and the FIPS place code 36220.

Lead's proximity to Deadwood, South Dakota, often leads to the two towns being collectively named "Lead-Deadwood".

Two prominent man-made features of Lead's geography are the giant open cut, which was used for surface gold mining by the Homestake Mine, and the resulting ridge nearby built with the non-producing material from the cut.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,027 people, 1,279 households, and 832 families residing in the city. The population density was 587.3/km² (1,521.5/mi²). There were 1,617 housing units at an average density of 313.7/km² (812.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.74% White, 0.23% African American, 2.25% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.59% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.71% of the population.

There were 1,279 households out of which 33.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.9% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.89.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.1% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,485, and the median income for a family was $35,855. Males had a median income of $25,958 versus $18,841 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,726. About 10.7% of families and 12.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.7% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.