Now if you don’t want to be figured out as a tourist you will pronounce the name of Lead, South Dakota, “Leed”. You are also standing in a “Mile High City” as the altitude is exactly 5,320 feet. Lead was founded in 1876 and went through several name changes before finally settling on Lead. Lead, SD is a town that is as rich in history as it is in gold. Unlike its sister city, Deadwood, this is a work town – gold mining. The Homestake Mining Company was incorporated in 1877 in San Francisco, and under the guidance of that company Lead grew into a city. Today Homestake Gold Mine has shut down mining operations but for many years this was the main income for this Black Hills area. Tours of the mine are still given on a daily basis in the summer months and plans are underway to utilize the hundreds of tunnels for other industry.