7 Photographs Of South Dakota In The 1970S

We’ve already covered the 1950s and the 1960s in South Dakota, and now we’re moving on to the next decade – the ’70s. The big changes of the previous decade kept rolling and shaping this one to be full of just as many headlines both good and bad. The ’70s were marked by big headlines like the Cold War keeping everyone on edge to the Vietnam War finally ending in the middle of the decade. There were new music, new trends, and changing fashions (a lot of which seem to be enjoying a resurgence lately). The decade has been called a “pivot of change,” and it definitely was.

Let’s take a trip down memory lane…

Crazy Horse Memorial, 1979

Tequask/Wikimedia

Hayride in Turner County, 1978

Jon Harder/Wikimedia

Fire in North Harding, South Dakota, 1970

Vieilles Annonces/Flickr

Road through the Badlands, 1975

Barbara Ann Spengler/Flickr

Yankton College Conservatory, 1978

Library of Congress/Wikimedia

A 1970s South Dakota license plate design

Jaycarlcooper/Wikimedia

Polluted creek running from the Homes Stake Mine in Sturgis, 1972

NARA/Wikimedia

A lot has changed since then and yet there are things that will always be the same here in South Dakota. Does any of this bring back memories for you? We’d love to hear them! There are a lot of people with plenty of family history in the state that deserves to be shared.