South Dakota is celebrating 125 years of statehood. SDPB honors that milestone with stories that explore the state’s identity and heritage through unique ideas, people and places.

Harney Peak sits at the core of the Black Hills uplift and has likely been the highest point in the hills for millions of years.   For Lakota the peak is a sacred place.   White settlers named it for William S. General Harney.  The lookout tower on top of Harney Peak was completed by the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939.  

Today that tower is crumbling – and a new effort is underway to restore it.