Lake Herman State Park on Register of Historic Places

Image from Lake Herman State Park's Facebook page.

By Noah Wicks, Student Intern, published September 6, 2016, courtesy of Madison Daily Leader

Lake Herman State Park has long been a piece of madison area history, but it recently made even more history after being added to the South Dakota State Register of Historic Places on August 5.

The South Dakota State Register of Historical Places provides a way to keep track and preserve certain cultural and historical resources for future generations. There are currently 44 sites on the register.

"It's always nice and that, when something of history is noted and put on the Historic Register; because you know, people who are traveling, or even for the people who grew up here, or the young kids who are growing up here now, it gives them an opportunity to learn more information about it, why it was, you know, chosen and the history of how it even started," said Madison Mayor Roy Lindsay.

The original uses of Lake Herman date back to before the U.S. was settled by immigrants. According to John Bame, distict Supervisor for Lake Herman State Park, it was actually a popular spot for Native Americans to camp.

"It has been a prominent Native American site for quite some time, utilized for one part of their route to Piepstone," Bame said.

Bame also said the Lake Herman State Park was famous because settler Herman Luce, the lake's namesake, set up his cabin there in 1871. The cabin still stands today. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

The history of the park does not end there. In the early 1900s, Lake Herman was a popular recreation spot with a dance hall which featured appearances by famous people such as Lawrence Welk and Susan B. Anthony.

"There even was a ferris wheel out there," Bame said.

Lake Herman State Park has been an important recreational area to not only the city of Madison but also Lake County as a whole.

According to Lindsay, Lake Herman has not only "a recreational impact, in that the people who live in and around Madison can go out and enjoy the lake for skiiing, boating, fishing, and in the wintertime, snowmobiling," but also an economic impact, "because the state park brings people from other locations to here as a vacation spot."

Being on the register should not affect camping at the park.

"We have 72 campsites, and we'll still have our 72 campsites at this time," Bame said. "It doesn't prohibit that kind of recreation.

Lake Herman State Park is also working with the State Archeological Research Center to create a cultural resource management plan.

"The cultural resource plan is really just a plan that's public...That's documenting how we manage the area, what we can and cannot do, (and) what we should and should not do," he said.

The park is hoping to have information from the plan out by the end of the year.

Find out more about Lake Herman State Park!

Website: http://gfp.sd.gov/state-parks/directory/lake-herman/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LakeHermanWalkersPoint

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