Rapid City: Historic Downtown Architecture

Adrienne Merola Kerst, Jean Oleson-Kessloff, and Patrick D. Roseland are members of Rapid City's Historic Preservation Commission. Kerst is a professional historic preservation and cultural resources consultant. Oleson-Kessloff and Roseland are longtime Rapid City residents who have devoted themselves to advocating for historical and architectural preservation.

With the opening of the Black Hills region of South Dakota due to the discovery of gold in 1874, the business-savvy founders of Rapid City, in 1876, saw the potential of this area as a focus for urban development. It was nestled within the beauty of the Black Hills, rich in natural resources, adjacent to a viable water source and in line with major trade routes. Thus, a thriving commercial district evolved, the architecture of which reflects the distinctive periods of a communitys growth from a frontier hay camp town to a regional metropolitan center. The built environment of Rapid City embodies and exemplifies the skill of local craftsman in interpreting the prevailing stylistic trends, the utilization of local materials, and other cultural influences. All of these elements provide Rapid City with an identifiable character and sense of place that is, clearly and uniquely, South Dakota.