The first Episcopal service in Deadwood was conducted by Seth Bullock in August, 1876. Using a borrowed Book of Common Prayer, he read the Burial Office for Preacher Smith, the itinerant Methodist minister killed by Indians. The first organized Episcopal service was held in i877; over one hundred men and three women attended. A year later the construction of the St. John's Church building was conceived in the community mind.
The cornerstone was laid in 1880 at 401 Williams Street with Bishop Hare present. Bull teams pulled rough lumber from Ft. Pierre for the roof beams to be hand hewn locally. The structure's bricks, from a local brick yard near the placer mines, contain a trace of gold. The first service was held in the spring of 1881.
For several years the priest lived in the downstairs section, now the Guild Hall. The pipe organ was built in 1904. In 1960 the education wing was added.
St. John's Church is the "Mother Church" for all the Black Hills region. It remains the oldest standing monument of Christian witness still in use in the area. Not only does it serve as a gathering place for the faithful of the Parish, but it is a haven of prayer for all who might enter.
Photos: St. John's Sunday school, 1930; Palm Sunday, 2006; Easter Sunday, 2006. Click on photos for larger versions.