Sol Star

Who was Sol Star?

Solomon "Sol" Star was an early resident of the town of Deadwood, South Dakota.

Star was born in Germany to Jewish parents. When he was ten years of age, his family moved to Ohio. When he grew older, he moved to Helena, Montana, where he served as territorial auditor and personal secretary to the governor. He partnered with Seth Bullock in a hardware store. In August 1876, Star and Bullock, attracted to Deadwood by the promise of a great deal of business stemming from the gold rush, purchased a lot there from Sam Schwartzwald and Henry Beaman. They opened the Office of Star and Bullock, Auctioneers and Commission Merchants. They later partnered in livestock ranching as the S&B Ranch Company, and with Harris Franklin in the Deadwood Flouring Mill, in 1880, where Star was the general manager. The duo expanded their business interests to the towns of Spearfish, Sturgis, and Custer.

Bullock and Star contributed further to the economic development of the region by convincing the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad to build a track, by offering them 40 acres of free right-of-way across their land when a speculator purchased the right of way to Minnesela and demanded a high price from the railroad. The railroad built a station three miles northwest of Minnesela, South Dakota, in 1890, and Bullock and Star were instrumental in founding the town of Belle Fourche there, offering free lots to anyone moving from Minnesela. Belle Fourche became the largest railhead for livestock in the United States and stole the county seat away from a declining Minnesela.