Capa is nine miles northeast of Midland. The first task is to find Midland, which is on US Highway 14, 61 miles west of Fort Pierre and/or 56 miles east of Wall. It can also be reached via SD Highway 63, 14 miles north of Interstate 90. Once in Midland, you will want to head east on Highway 14 approximately 1/2 mile east of town to the junction with the gravel Bad River Road at the top of the hill. It gets easy from here. Nine miles on the gravel will bring you to what's left of Capa.
If you count three outhouses, there are 14 buildings still standing, including a church and a school on Capa's one street.
After walking around a bit, I was ready to declare Capa inhabited by only cows, pigeons and prairie dogs, but then I realized one house did look slightly more recently used and actually had a satellite dish! At this point I realized I was probably trespassing in someone's front yard. If you visit Capa, please respect the property of others and do not remove, destroy or vandalize anything there.
Also, be careful! Places like this have innumerable hazards lurking for the unsuspecting photographer. Rusty nails and sharp pieces of discarded metal are strewn about everywhere. Snakes, skunks, and other nasty creatures may have taken up residence in or under decaying buildings. Photographing from a distance is sometimes the best idea.
There are several ghost towns throughout South Dakota, mainly "West River." I will write about more in upcoming posts.
3 comments:
My great uncle, Nathaniel Edwards, was the railroad station agent in Capa and died there in 1950.
My father, Rex Huston, won a railroad car in a poker game in Capa - 1950's. It is still parked alongside the dirt road near my grandparents' old homestead a few miles outside of Midland (my cousin, Tom, took pictures of it Aug. 2010). My aunt Mary Jane, 86, said "Capa was wild, and the Hustons didn't help it any." She said winning the railroad card was a "big deal" but Dad couldn't make a big deal of it around his mother.
Cindy (Huston) Fletcher
Wow, great storie! Thanks for sharing.
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