Historic Adams House

The Adams Museum’s leadership in historic preservation led naturally to its involvement in restoring the Victorian home of two of Deadwood’s founding families, including the Adams Museum’s founder W.E. Adams.

Built in 1892, the Queen Anne-style home with its oak interiors, hand-painted canvas wall coverings, stained glass windows, thoroughly modern 19th century plumbing, electricity and telephone service and original furnishings sat silent for almost 60 years after W.E. Adams’ death in 1934, when his second wife Mary Adams closed the doors. Mrs. Adams left everything intact from the sheet music in the piano bench, the books in the library, the china in the pantry, to the patent medicines in the bathroom, the gilded settee in the parlor and even the cookies in a cookie jar. The home was purchased by the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission in 1992.

Located at 22 Van Buren St., Deadwood, SD 57732