Dinosaur Park | |
---|---|
Type | Dinosaur park |
Location | 940 Skyline Dr., Rapid City, South Dakota, U.S. |
Coordinates | 44°4′40.6″N103°14′45″W / 44.077944°N 103.24583°W |
Designated | May 22, 1936 |
Designer | Emmet Sullivan |
Operated by | City of Rapid City |
Website | Official website |
Dinosaur Park | |
Architectural style | Vernacular |
NRHP reference No. | 90000956 [1] |
Added to NRHP | June 21, 1990 |
Dinosaur Park is a dinosaur park in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States. Dedicated on May 22, 1936, it contains seven dinosaur sculptures on a hill overlooking the city, created to capitalize on the tourists coming to the Black Hills to see Mount Rushmore. Constructed by the City of Rapid City and the Works Progress Administration, [2] WPA Project #960's dinosaurs were designed by Emmet Sullivan. Sullivan also designed the Apatosaurus at Wall Drug nearby in Wall, South Dakota; the Christ of the Ozarks statue in Eureka Springs, Arkansas; and the dinosaurs at the now-closed Dinosaur World in Beaver, Arkansas.
The park is located at 940 Skyline Drive and is maintained by the City of Rapid City. Admission is free. The park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 21, 1990.
In the 1920s and 1930s, Rapid City was looking to capitalize on the growing tourist traffic into the Black Hills, primarily at Mount Rushmore. Additionally, Rapid City was experiencing a population boom due to the establishment of nearby Ellsworth Air Force Base. The Great Depression added an extra incentive for the city to increase profits. Such a construction project would also allow the local government to apply for federal funding, as well as promote local jobs and commerce. [3]
In 1935, the Rapid City Chamber of Commerce planned to build Dinosaur Park. Some sources credit South Dakota School of Mines and Technology paleontologist C. C. O'Harra for the idea; others suggest the idea was that of R. L. Bronson, secretary of the Chamber of Commerce, who had seen a mechanical Brontosaurus sculpture during a tip to Chicago. As prehistoric fossils had long been found in the Black Hills, a dinosaur-themed attraction seemed a natural choice. [3] The park was dedicated on May 22, 1936. [4]
Barnum Brown was the paleontological consultant and provided the descriptions and measurements for each replicated fossil; and Emmet Sullivan, who had previously designed other dinosaur parks, was hired as the chief sculptor and designer. Aided by the Works Progress Administration, who supplemented the costs and helped with engineering, construction began shortly after. As many as 25 workers were constructing the park at any given time. The Federal Emergency Relief Administration sponsored the construction of Skyline Drive, which would provide access to the park. Due to a dispute between Sullivan and the WPA over the dinosaur teeth—Sullivan retired from the project in 1937 and the new foreman disagreed with him over the installation method for the T. Rex sculpture's teeth—construction was not finished until 1938. In total, the park cost $25,000 to complete. The site also included a log gazebo, which has since disappeared. Additionally, fossilized dinosaur footprints that had been found in the area were planned to be moved to the park, but this apparently was never completed. [3]
Grants in the 1960s allowed the park to be updated. The city refurbished the sculptures, walkways, and landscaping, and added a larger parking lot and a new concession and gift shop. On June 21, 1990, the park was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Only the original five sculptures were listed on the register. [3]
As of 2023, a $3 million renovation project is currently being carried out to renovate the walkways and stairs, among other improvements, and is scheduled to be completed in mid-2024. [5]
Dinosaurs represented in the park include Apatosaurus , Tyrannosaurus rex , Triceratops , Stegosaurus , and an Edmontosaurus annectens . A Protoceratops and a Dimetrodon were added later on and are located near the gift shop and parking lot. With the exception of the Protoceratops, the selected dinosaurs were based on fossils found in South Dakota and the Western United States. [3]
The dinosaurs were constructed out of 2-inch-wide (5.1 cm) black iron pipe under a wire mesh frame and a concrete skin. Being constructed in the 1930s, the dinosaurs reflect the thinking of the times. [4] This includes dragging tails; three fingers on the T. rex as opposed to two; the dimensions; and the naming of the E. annectens sculpture as the now-outdated classification Trachodon . The largest sculpture is the Apatosaurus, which stands at 28 feet (8.5 m) high and 80 feet (24 m) long; it is visible from much of Rapid City. Originally, the dinosaurs were gray in color, but by the 1950s the statues had been painted bright green with white undersides. [3]
The T. rex's original finger claws, as well as its teeth, have been lost or damaged over the years. Vintage postcards of the T. rex do in fact show these were originally part of the sculpture. The Stegosaurus also had a shorter tail with 4 correct tail spikes, but the tail spikes were removed and the tail itself considerably lengthened.[ citation needed ]
Dinosaur Park is the subject of the song "Dinosaur Park" from Owl City's 2023 album Coco Moon . [6] [7]
Tyrannosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur. The type species Tyrannosaurus rex, often shortened to T. rex or colloquially T-Rex, is one of the best represented theropods. It lived throughout what is now western North America, on what was then an island continent known as Laramidia. Tyrannosaurus had a much wider range than other tyrannosaurids. Fossils are found in a variety of rock formations dating to the latest Campanian-Maastrichtian ages of the Late Cretaceous period, 72.7 to 66 million years ago. It was the last known member of the tyrannosaurids and among the last non-avian dinosaurs to exist before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Triceratops is a genus of chasmosaurine ceratopsian dinosaur that lived during the late Maastrichtian age of the Late Cretaceous period, about 68 to 66 million years ago in what is now western North America. It was one of the last-known non-avian dinosaurs and lived until the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 million years ago. The name Triceratops, which means 'three-horned face', is derived from the Greek words trí- meaning 'three', kéras meaning 'horn', and ṓps meaning 'face'.
Dinosaur classification began in 1842 when Sir Richard Owen placed Iguanodon, Megalosaurus, and Hylaeosaurus in "a distinct tribe or suborder of Saurian Reptiles, for which I would propose the name of Dinosauria." In 1887 and 1888 Harry Seeley divided dinosaurs into the two orders Saurischia and Ornithischia, based on their hip structure. These divisions have proved remarkably enduring, even through several seismic changes in the taxonomy of dinosaurs.
Ceratopsidae is a family of ceratopsian dinosaurs including Triceratops, Centrosaurus, and Styracosaurus. All known species were quadrupedal herbivores from the Upper Cretaceous. All but one species are known from western North America, which formed the island continent of Laramidia during most of the Late Cretaceous. Ceratopsids are characterized by beaks, rows of shearing teeth in the back of the jaw, elaborate nasal horns, and a thin parietal-squamosal shelf that extends back and up into a frill. The group is divided into two subfamilies—Chasmosaurinae and Centrosaurinae. The chasmosaurines are generally characterized by long, triangular frills and well-developed brow horns. The centrosaurines had well-developed nasal horns or nasal bosses, shorter and more rectangular frills, and elaborate spines on the back of the frill.
Edmontosaurus, with the second species often colloquially and historically known as Anatosaurus or Anatotitan, is a genus of hadrosaurid (duck-billed) dinosaur. It contains two known species: Edmontosaurus regalis and Edmontosaurus annectens. Fossils of E. regalis have been found in rocks of western North America that date from the late Campanian age of the Cretaceous period 73 million years ago, while those of E. annectens were found in the same geographic region from rocks dated to the end of the Maastrichtian age, 66 million years ago. Edmontosaurus was one of the last non-avian dinosaurs to ever exist, and lived alongside dinosaurs like Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, Ankylosaurus, and Pachycephalosaurus shortly before the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.
Emmet Sullivan, was an American sculptor. He was born in Powder River, Montana, and claimed to have worked on Mount Rushmore. He created the five dinosaurs in Dinosaur Park in Rapid City, South Dakota in 1934, his first large-scale project. His other dinosaur creations were the Apatosaurus at Wall Drug in Wall, South Dakota in the late 1960s, and the many dinosaurs of Dinosaur World in Beaver, Arkansas. In 1966 Sullivan sculpted the 20 meter tall Christ of the Ozarks statue in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.
The Truth About Killer Dinosaurs is a two-part BBC documentary film, directed by Bill Oddie, in which a group of men test out dinosaur weapons, using studies. Visual effects are done by MPC. The first episode determines the winner of a battle between Tyrannosaurus and Triceratops, and the second compares the strength of an Ankylosaurus and Velociraptor. The episodes were broadcast on BBC 1 in August and September 2005. In the U.S., The Truth About killer Dinosaurs was also known as Dinosaur Face-Off.
The Hell Creek Formation is an intensively studied division of mostly Upper Cretaceous and some lower Paleocene rocks in North America, named for exposures studied along Hell Creek, near Jordan, Montana. The formation stretches over portions of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming. In Montana, the Hell Creek Formation overlies the Fox Hills Formation. The site of Pompeys Pillar National Monument is a small isolated section of the Hell Creek Formation. In 1966, the Hell Creek Fossil Area was designated as a National Natural Landmark by the National Park Service.
Tyrannosaurus rex is unique among dinosaurs in its place in modern culture; paleontologist Robert Bakker has called it "the most popular dinosaur among people of all ages, all cultures, and all nationalities". Paleontologists Mark Norell and Lowell Dingus have likewise called it "the most famous dinosaur of all times." Paleoartist Gregory S. Paul has called it "the theropod. [...] This is the public's favorite dinosaur [...] Even the formations it is found in have fantastic names like Hell Creek and Lance." Other paleontologists agree with that and note that whenever a museum erects a new skeleton or bring in an animatronic model, visitor numbers go up. "Jurassic Park and King Kong would not have been the same without it." In the public mind, T. rex sets the standard of what a dinosaur should be. Science writer Riley Black similarly states, "In all of prehistory, there is no animal that commands our attention quite like Tyrannosaurus rex, the king of the tyrant lizards. Since the time this dinosaur was officially named in 1905, the enormous carnivore has stood as the ultimate dinosaur."
When Dinosaurs Roamed America is a two-hour American television program that first aired on the Discovery Channel on July 15, 2001. The show features the reign of the non-avian dinosaurs in America over the course of more than 160 million years, through five different segments, each with their own variety of flora and fauna.
The Carnegie Collection was a series of authentic replicas based on dinosaurs and other extinct prehistoric creatures, using fossils featured at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History as references. They were produced by Florida-based company Safari Ltd., known for their hand-painted replicas, from 1988 to 2015, and became known as "the world’s premier line of scale model dinosaur figures."
Stegosaurus is one of the most recognizable types among cultural depictions of dinosaurs. It has been depicted on film, in cartoons, comics, as children's toys, as sculpture, and even was declared the state dinosaur of Colorado in 1982. Stegosaurus is a subject for inclusion in dinosaur toy and scale model lines, such as the Carnegie Collection.
Tyrannosaurus is one of the most iconic dinosaurs and is known from numerous specimens, some of which have individually acquired notability due to their scientific significance and media coverage.
Dinamation International Corporation was a robotics effects company based in San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, and Tustin, California, United States.
The Dinosaurs! is an American television miniseries produced by WHYY-TV for PBS in 1992, featuring some of the then-modern theories about dinosaurs and how they lived. It aired four episodes from November 22 to November 25, 1992.
We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story is a 1987 children's book drawn and written by Hudson Talbott, and published by Crown. A Tyrannosaurus Rex named Rex is the main character and narrator. Other dinosaurs included in the book are a Triceratops, a Parasaurolophus, an Apatosaurus, a Stegosaurus, and a Velociraptor, with the only exception being the Pteranodon, a pterosaur.
Dinosaur Island was an animatronic dinosaur themed attraction at Sea World on the Gold Coast, Australia. The attraction was manufactured by Canadian company Dinosaurs Unearthed and opened on 16 June 2012.
Paleontology in the United States refers to paleontological research occurring within or conducted by people from the United States. Paleontologists have found that at the start of the Paleozoic era, what is now "North" America was actually in the southern hemisphere. Marine life flourished in the country's many seas. Later the seas were largely replaced by swamps, home to amphibians and early reptiles. When the continents had assembled into Pangaea drier conditions prevailed. The evolutionary precursors to mammals dominated the country until a mass extinction event ended their reign.
The feeding behaviour of Tyrannosaurus rex has been studied extensively. The well known attributes of T. rex are often interpreted to be indicative of either a predatory or scavenging lifestyle, and as such the biomechanics, feeding strategies and diet of Tyrannosaurus have been subject to much research and debate.
The Mace Brown Museum of Natural History is a public natural history museum situated on the campus of The College of Charleston, a public liberal arts college in Charleston, South Carolina. With a collection of over 30,000 vertebrate and invertebrate fossils, the museum focuses on the paleontology of the South Carolina Lowcountry. Admission to the museum is free, and donations are welcome. The museum has the holotype specimens of Coronodon, Cotylocara, and Inermorostrum, as well as the reference specimen of Ankylorhiza tiedemani