PHOTO OF THE DAY: MOVING DAY

This was the scene outside of Heritage Hall Museum and Archives/the Prairie Arboretum Tuesday afternoon, July 21 as workers moved the historic Deckert House to its new location east of where it had stood since the fall of 1979. Marnette Hofer, archivist and executive director at Heritage Hall, called it “a moving scene,” likely because it has been in the works in one way or another ever since she started there in 2015. Concerns about the structural integrity of the house, which was built in 1879 four miles straight west of Marion and is on the National Registry of Historic Places, arose because of its need for a new foundation. Consultation between museum officials and the state historic preservation office of the South Dakota Historical Society led them to apply for, and receive, a $12,000 grant through the Deadwood Fund in 2018, which covers about one-third of the moving costs. Hofer said the high ground will be good for the house, which will someday be joined by a barn coming from the Duane Ries farmstead. PHOTO BY JEREMY WALTNER