This article possibly contains original research .(January 2024) |
Rapid City, South Dakota was founded in 1876 [1] and was run by a village board of trustees until 1882, when John Richard Brennan, a member of the board and cofounder of the city, was chosen as mayor. [2] Two months after the city was incorporated, Fred E. Stearns was elected mayor. [3] The first form of elected government was mayor–council with an elected strong mayor. From 1910 to 1922, a city commission government was used. Later that year, the system of government was changed to council–manager. Rapid City returned to a mayor–council government in 1957. [4] The Rapid City Council chose to extend the mayoral term to four years in 2015, and the change took effect in 2019. There is no term limit. [5] Former mayors Edward R. McLaughlin and Jim Shaw agreed with the change. [6]
Name (term) | Term Began | Term End | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
John Richard Brennan | 1882 | 1883 | (1848–1919) One of four founders of the city in 1876 [7] [8] |
Fred E. Stearns | 1883 | 1884 | [9] Known as the "cattle king of the foothills" [10] |
James Halley II | 1884 | 1886 | (1854–1920) |
Andrew Jackson Simmons | 1886 | 1887 | (1834–1920) Born in New York, Simmons joined the California gold fields in 1853. He was speaker of territorial legislature of Nevada and mined at Alder Gulch in Montana in 1860's. He was colleague of Mark Twain. [11] He was appointed Special Agent and titled Major by President Grant to obtain a right of way for railroad on a reservation, negotiating with Sitting Bull and other chiefs. In 1872, he took a part of the tribe members to Washington; Grant gave each an 1871 peace medal. Major Simmons was appointed Indian Agent at Milk River Agency Montana Territory. He arrived in Deadwood in 1878 engaging in mining activities including the Echo near Maitland. In 1882 he purchased 160 acres near the town site of Rapid City and built the Park Hotel. He donated land for the Missouri Valley Railroad. |
John F. Schrader | 1887 | 1888 | (1855–1934) [12] |
David H. Clark | 1888 | 1890 | (1855–1891) [13] |
James Moses Woods | 1890 | 1894 | [8] |
Chauncey Lynch Wood (1) | 1894 | 1896 | First mayor to serve separate terms [8] (1851–1911) Born in Jones County, Iowa; graduated from law school in 1875 and moved to Rapid City in 1878. Later moved to Seattle, where he died. [14] Admitted to practice law before the United States Department of the Interior in 1901, [15] also served as state's attorney in Pennington County. [16] Was affiliated with the Socialist Party of America during the 1902 United States elections, [17] represented the Democratic Party in the 1910 South Dakota gubernatorial election. [18] |
Valentine McGillycuddy | 1896 | 1898 | [8] (1849–1939) |
George B. Mansfield | 1898 | 1899 | |
Chauncey Lynch Wood (2) | 1899 | 1900 | [8] |
Charles Wellington Brown | 1900 | 1902 | (1859–1912) [19] |
Ferdinand N. Emrick | 1902 | 1908 | Dentist (d. 1930) [20] |
Chauncey Lynch Wood (3) | 1908 | 1910 | [8] |
Robert J. Jackson | 1910 | 1912 | [21] |
Fred H. Rugg | 1912 | 1914 | Progressive Party presidential elector in 1912 [22] |
William E. Robinson | 1914 | 1918 | |
John L. Burke | 1919 | 1920 | |
Claude E. Gray | 1920 | 1922 | [9] |
Harry Wentzy | 1922 | 1924 | Died in office [23] [24] |
John Abram Boland | 1924 | 1925 | Led the executive committee of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial Commission established by Norbeck-Williamson Act of 1929 [25] [26] died October 10, 1958 [27] |
Charles Tittle | 1925 | 1926 | |
Arthur Lampert | 1926 | 1927 | |
Victor Jepson | 1927 | 1928 | |
Eugene Bangs | 1928 | 1929 | |
Theodore B. Werner | 1929 | 1930 | [8] (1892–1989) |
Winfield Morrill | 1930 | 1931 | |
Melville Babington | 1931 | 1932 | |
Fred Merritt | 1933 | 1934 | |
Charles Leroy Doherty | 1934 | 1936 | (1889–1979) [28] |
Norbert De Kerchove | 1937 | 1938 | |
Robert S. Hill | 1938 | 1943 | (1883–1970) [29] |
Therlo Burrington | 1943 | 1944 | |
Stanton Neil | 1944 | 1946 | |
Fred Dusek (1) | 1946 | 1948 | [8] (1900–1984) Member of the Rapid City Common Council (1936–1947) [30] [31] |
Earl Brockelsby | 1948 | 1949 | Founded the Black Hills Reptile Gardens [32] [33] |
Isaac Chase | 1949 | 1951 | |
Augustus Haines | 1951 | 1953 | (1900–1991) [34] |
Montford Wasser | 1953 | 1954 | |
Harry R. Johnson | 1954 | 1955 | |
Don L'Esperance | 1955 | 1956 | (1919–2008) |
Henry Jay Baker (1) | 1956 | 1957 | [8] |
Fred Dusek (2) | 1957 | 1961 | [8] Second and third terms. After serving his third term, also ran for the office in 1965 and 1975. [30] [31] |
Willis Raff | 1961 | 1963 | |
Phil Schroeder | 1963 | 1965 | introduced poverty reduction initiatives [35] [36] |
Henry Jay Baker (2) | 1965 | 1969 | [8] |
Jack Allmon | 1969 | 1970 | |
John Barnes | 1970 | 1971 | |
Donald V. Barnett | 1971 | 1975 | Mayor at time of the Black Hills Flood of 1972, also known as the Rapid City Flood, with a death toll of more than 200 [37] [38] [39] |
Arthur Lacroix | 1975 | 1987 | [40] [37] |
Keith Carlyle | 1987 | 1991 | [41] |
Edward R. McLaughlin | 1991 | 1997 | (born 1928) |
Jim Shaw (1) | 1997 | 2001 | [8] (born 1946) |
Jerry Munson | 2001 | 2003 | (1955–2023) [42] member and president of the Rapid City Common Council (1999–2001) [43] owned a fishing boat dealership and outdoor advertising agency [44] [45] |
Jim Shaw (2) | 2003 | 2007 | [8] |
Alan Hanks | 2007 | 2011 | (born 1960) |
Sam Kooiker | 2011 | 2015 | (born 1974) |
Steve Allender | 2015 | 2023 | [46] |
Jason Salamun | 2023 | [47] | |
References: [48] |
Hill City is the oldest existing city in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 872 at the 2020 census. Hill City is located 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Rapid City on U.S. Highway 16 and on U.S. Route 385 that connects Deadwood to Hot Springs. Hill City is known as the "Heart of the Hills", a distinction derived from its proximity to both the geographical center of the Black Hills, and the local tourist destinations.
Rapid City is the second most populous city in South Dakota after Sioux Falls and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western South Dakota, on the Black Hills' eastern slope. The population was 74,703 as of the 2020 census.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, and the surrounding Black Hills region of the United States. It began in 1938 by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders and was originally held for stunts and races. Since then, the rally has become a pluralistic endeavor that consists of events put on by many different groups. Attendance has historically been around 500,000 people, reaching a high of over 700,000 in 2015. The event takes place over 10 days and generates around $800 million in annual revenue.
Gladys Shields Pyle was an American educator, politician and the first woman elected to the United States Senate without having previously been appointed to her position; she was also the first female senator to serve as a Republican and the first female senator from South Dakota. Further, she was the first female senator from outside the south. She was also the first unmarried female senator.
The Rapid City Journal is the daily newspaper of Rapid City, South Dakota. As of 2021, it is the largest newspaper in South Dakota by total subscriptions, according to the United States Postal Service Statement of Ownership and the South Dakota Newspaper Association. It covers Mount Rushmore, the Black Hills, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Vera Sarah Bushfield was an American politician served as a U.S. senator from South Dakota in 1948, as well as the First Lady of South Dakota from 1939 to 1943. Bushfield's appointment also marked the first time one state had been represented by two female senators; Gladys Pyle served for two months in late 1938 and early 1939.
KCLO-TV is a television station in Rapid City, South Dakota, United States, affiliated with CBS and The CW Plus. Owned by Nexstar Media Group, the station maintains a news bureau and advertising sales office on Canyon Lake Drive in Rapid City, and its transmitter is located on Skyline Drive near downtown.
Hugh Benjamin Munson was a physician who performed abortions in Rapid City, South Dakota, both before and after legalization.
KZZI is a radio station licensed to serve Belle Fourche, South Dakota, serving the Rapid City, South Dakota market. The station is owned by Riverfront Broadcasting, LLC. It airs a country music format.
Helen S. Duhamel was an American businesswoman and broadcaster, best known for saving the Duhamel Company from bankruptcy and establishing a cluster of radio and television stations in western South Dakota and Nebraska in the United States.
Watson Parker was an American historian, author and academic. Parker, a professor of history at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh, specialized in the history of the Black Hills of South Dakota and eastern Wyoming. He was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2011 for his work.
The 2016 United States Senate election in South Dakota was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of South Dakota, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. The primaries were held June 7.
Sam Kooiker is an American politician who served as Mayor of Rapid City, South Dakota from 2011 to 2015.
The 2018 South Dakota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of South Dakota. Incumbent Republican governor Dennis Daugaard was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term.
Twelve Mile Ranch is a historic ranch in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota. It is located in Pleasant Valley, 12 miles (19 km) southwest of the city of Custer, which is where it gets its name.
John Lopez is an American sculptor known for his life-size hybrid metal sculptures made out of discarded farm equipment and bronze. He is equally known for his 12 life-size presidential monuments made for The City of presidents in Rapid City, South Dakota. Some of the presidents include John F. Kennedy and John Jr., Grant, Carter, Harrison, Coolidge, T. Roosevelt, and Garfield. He lives in South Dakota.
Emma E. Amiotte was an Oglala Lakota artist.
The 1951 South Dakota Mines Hardrockers football team was an American football team that represented the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology as a member of the South Dakota Intercollegiate Conference (SDIC) during the 1951 college football season. Led by Marvin Lewellyn in his fifth and final season as head coach, the Hardrockers compiled a perfect overall record of 8–0 with a mark of 6–0 in conference play, winning the SDIC title. They held opponents to seven or fewer points in seven games, including four shutouts, and outscored all opponents by a total of 158 to 34. Right halfback Doug Blackwell and center Ralph Teslow were selected as the team's co-captains. The team played its home games at O'Harra Stadium in Rapid City, South Dakota.
Rhoda Alice Gossage was an American newspaper editor, journalist, and activist. Often referred to as the "Mother of Rapid City", she was inducted into the South Dakota Newspaper Hall of Fame in 1934 and the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 1978. She was one of, if not the, first newspaperwomen in South Dakota.
Judy Olson Duhamel is an American politician and educator. She served in the South Dakota State Senate representing Pennington County from 1988 to 1992 and later served as chair of the South Dakota Democratic Party. She served the Rapid City School District for eighteen years, overseeing community engagement and public information programs. She was inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2014.
A brother John A. Boland Sr., died last Oct. 10.