History of Black Hills Gold

Black Hills

 Black Hills gold jewelry is a piece of handcrafted heirloom jewelry distinguishable by its tri-colored gold leaves, grapevine and flower accents.

The history of Black Hills Gold started in 1874. A group of 1000 men were led by George Armstrong Custer into the Black Hills area in search of gold. As they found a small quantities of gold near present day Custer, South Dakota, the great Black Hills Gold Rush began.

 Discovery of gold in Deadwood and Whitewood Creeks in the northern Black Hills, resulted in increased White settlement in the region. The city of Deadwood, a historic mining town was also home to S.T Butler, who is known as the father of Black Hills Gold Jewelry. Using torch for soldering and handmade punches, S.T Butler created the traditional Black Hills Gold design using red, green and yellow gold. For two generations, Black Hills Gold was run as a retail business with the local scope. F.L. Thorpe, grandson of S.T. Butler, expanded the manufacturing and distribution of Black Hills Gold Jewelry. Hundreds of designs were introduced with the basic motif of grape and leaf design with the tricolor gold. Thorpe, along with a partner E.O Lampinen formed F.L. Thorpe Company. Later, when partnership was dissolved, F.L. Thorpe Company continued business while Lampinen started a separate shop in Deadwood.

In mid 1900s, Black Hills Gold manufacturing moved from Deadwood to Rapid City, when Ivan Landstrom bought Black Hills Jewelry Manufacturing from Lampinen and started manufacturing Landstrom's Original Black Hills Gold Creations.

In 1940's a lady named Clara Arnold owned and operated her own manufacturing plant in Rapid City. Later, her company was bought by the Stamper family in 1959, and it has since operated under the name Stamper Jewelry Inc.

According to a federal ruling in 1980s, the design of jewelry with tri-color grape leaves and grape clusters must be manufactured in the Black Hills of South Dakota in order to carry the name "Black Hills Gold Jewelry." Few other companies also started manufacturing Black Hills Gold including Coleman, South Dakota Gold and Mount Rushmore.In 1995, Landstrom purchased F.L Thorpe company, and has continued to manufacture Thorpe designs, in addition to expanding to newer styles.

Today, Black Hills Gold jewelry are made in modern and contemporary designs though focus remains on tricolor grape leaves and grape bunches with detailed accents making it a specialized and unique jewelry.