Welcome to the 1882 Dakota Territory Vacation Home.
A Virtual Tour:
Main Level: Savor a morning cup of coffee on The Hitch – our front porch. Minnie’s Kitchen is equipped with almost every culinary tool you’ll need during your visit, including a dishwasher. There are two grocery stores in town: Custer Country Market, two blocks east & across the street, pick up some buffalo meat for grilled burgers on the A. McKinley Patio. Grill tools are available. For a more formal dinner at home, choose a bottle of wine at Lynn’s Dakota Mart on the eastern edge of downtown. If you’re in the mood for a meal out, enjoy one of Custer's many fine restaurants.
For some Custer-style fun, you’ll find board games and puzzles in the McHugh Game Parlor, as well as arcade games and a juke box – no quarters needed. Parents, there is an OFF switch if you just can’t take it anymore! Guests needing a change of pace can relax in the Dakota Dining/Living Room where a selection of local interest books and prints by local artists can be found. A DVD/VHS player and some movies can be found by the living room TV. A Video/DVD store is just across the street. The Sundstrom Hideaway is the only bedroom (queen bed) on the main level, and offers easy access to the kitchen, laundry room and main level bathroom. Of course, FREE WiFi!
Upper Level: We hope you find the Newberg Nest (king bed – back bedroom upstairs) to be cozy, comfortable and even a little romantic. Relax in the cozy reading chair or watch a little TV before bed. There’s also a TV in Rosa’s Room (queen bed – upstairs at front of house), and one in Julia’s Room (1 single bed & 1 queen bed – middle upstairs bedroom) with Playstation 2 and several games to choose from. All four TVs in the house are hooked up to local cable. There’s a selection of books for your enjoyment upstairs. Towels for the upstairs bathroom are in the hallway, and spare bedding is in Rosa’s closet. Extra towels can be found in the laundry room off the kitchen. Feel free to use the washer and dryer during your stay if you wish.
If you’re visiting during the warmer months, we hope you’ll enjoy a stroll through Sadie’s Garden – a work in progress on the east side of the house. There are two Rhubarb plants in back that can be harvested for wonderful desserts.
Relax and Enjoy your stay at the 1882 Dakota Territory House!
We hope you’ll sign our guestbook on the main level before you head back home.
The Kopp Family
Bob, Sarah, Alex, Sadie & Julia
A little history...
In 1982, on the one-hundredth birthday of what is now the 1882 Dakota Territory Vacation Home, Gayle Newberg, former owner, spoke for the home:
“I’m celebrating my Birthday, just one hundred years ago today my builder and owner walked through the front door of his “comfortable and commodious” new brick home on “upper Custer Avenue.” His name was Patrick McHugh, owner of a saloon and brick yard, and president of the board of trustees of Custer City, Dakota Territory.”
“I sit firmly on a side hill on lot 5, block 34. Actually, I started out with a quarter block of yard, but I’ve been crowded onto this little lot. My 17-inch (thick) walls sit on a wide foundation of rock. They are built of two courses of brick with space in between. Every sixth row is placed endwise to tie them firmly. Where my owner got his windows, doors, and hardware and woodwork, I haven’t a guess, but I have always been proud that they match those in the equally new courthouse down the street a block and a half.”
“On July 13, 1882, Pat gave me to his wife, Rosa.” Poor Pat, it’s good that he built well. I was pretty shaken to learn that, as a result of a judgment against him by Messers, Plunkett and Lynch of Pennington County, I was to be auctioned off from the courthouse steps at 10 a.m. Sept. 28, 1883 by Sheriff John Code and his deputy, H.N. Ross.”
“I was bought by Buell R. Wood for $462.72, who promptly “gave” me to his wife. The Woods made me nervous. They mortgaged me 13 times between 1883 and 1907. The last was to Anna M. Courney, and she got me. Turns out she was married to William Courtney. It took Anna six years to clear my name, even though she made “valuable improvements”. In fact the Woods were still making legal claims until 1919, when Anna and her husband sold me to Julia and Frank Gira who turned me over to George Hitch. You may remember the Hitches…related to the Kidwells, I do. They added on my front porch! It was pretty fancy, if a bit too narrow for much use. Really dressed me up though. I felt like a fine lady.”
“Well, George gave me to his wife, Nellie. In 1941, Widow Hitch sold me to to Carl Sundstrom, a single man...ran a newspaper, I’ve heard. Carl, by his attorney-in-fact, J.L. Sundstrom, sold me to L.D. and Signa Pitts (saved having to give it to her) in 1945. Lon (Pitts) built a fancy house on the corner and sold me to Harvey Robertson. Harvey and Minnie took good care of me for many peaceful years. In 1972, they reluctantly entrusted me to some old friends, Winston and Gayle Newberg. I was her birthday present!”
“These people! They never let me rest. They kept my innards in an uproar...always changing something. That first operation I nearly collapsed from, and ever since, I just get settled and they decide I need another surgery. It’s painful but sort of interesting. Keeps me from getting old.”
Since 1982, the house was purchased by the Gausman family; Chet and Mary, and Kris and Gretchen Gosch. They have also shaken its bricks and timber with a complete modernization of the interior by Black Hills Design and Construction. It’s present owners are Bob and Sarah Kopp, a young Entrepreneurial family.
The 128 year old Romanesque Revival home is located at 241 Mt. Rushmore Rd., formally known as “upper Custer Avenue”, “Custer City, Dakota Territory”.
- this was written by Gayle Newburg, a former owner of the home. We cannot guarantee all facts.
