Pennington County, South Dakota

History

In 1874, US Army commander George A. Custer led a group into the Black Hills area. He and some of his officers climbed the crest now called Black Elk Peak, and made a toast to US General William S. Harney. They named the peak for Harney, and this name was used until 2016. This expedition reported that gold could be found in the Black Hills, which spurred a gold rush into the future county area. The mining settlements that sprang up were in violation of the second Treaty of Fort Laramie signed with the Sioux Nation in 1868. By 1875, settlement was sufficient to justify creation of a local governing organization, so Pennington County was created on January 11, 1875, and it was fully organized by April 19, 1877. The county's boundaries were adjusted in 1877 and in 1898.

The county seat was initially at Sheridan, a mining camp. (Sheridan is credited with hosting the first Federal Court west of the Missouri River.) In 1878, the county seat was moved to Rapid City.

In 1923, Doane Robinson, superintendent of the SD State Historical Society, began promoting the concept of a giant sculpture carved from a Black Hills mountain. By 1927 this concept took substance, when work on Mount Rushmore began.

Shortly after the US entered World War II, an Army training airbase was established in Pennington County. It has continued until the present, now known as Ellsworth Air Force Base. Supporting this activity has provided a substantial portion of the county's economic base since that time.

Geography

Pennington County is located on the west line of South Dakota. Its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Wyoming. Its west end contains the nation's highest peak east of the continental divide, Black Elk Peak. The rugged arid western end contains forest and gullies, descendending to rough rolling hill country in the east. The Cheyenne River flows north-northeastward through the center of the county and then along its northeastern border on its way to discharge in the Missouri River, while Rapid Creek flows east-southeastward through the western part, to discharge into the Cheyenne at the county's midpoint. The county terrain varies in elevation from Black Elk Peak at 7,242 ft to its NE corner, at 1,896 ft ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2784.459 sqmi, of which 2776.765 sqmi is land and 7.694 sqmi (0.28%) is water. It is the third-largest county in South Dakota by total area, and is larger than the state of Delaware.

Major highways

• [[Image:I-90.svg|20px]] Interstate 90
• [[Image:US 14.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 14
• [[Image:US 16.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 16
• [[Image:US 16A.svg|25px]] U.S. Highway 16A
• [[Image:US 385.svg|25px]] U.S. Highway 385
• [[Image:SD 40.svg|20px]] South Dakota Highway 40
• [[Image:SD 44.svg|20px]] South Dakota Highway 44
• [[Image:SD 240.svg|25px]] South Dakota Highway 240
• [[Image:SD 244.svg|25px]] South Dakota Highway 244

Transit

• Jefferson Lines
• Rapid City Rapid Ride

Adjacent counties

• Meade County – north
• Ziebach County - northeast
• Haakon County – northeast
• Jackson County – southeast
• Oglala Lakota County – south
• Custer County – southwest
• Weston County, Wyoming – west
• Lawrence County – northwest

National protected areas

• Badlands National Park (part)
  • Badlands Wilderness
• Black Hills National Forest (part)
  • Black Elk Wilderness (part)
• Buffalo Gap National Grassland (part)
• Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (part)
• Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Lakes and reservoirs

Source:

• Deerfield Lake
• Pactola Reservoir
• Shearer Lake
• Sheridan Lake

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

As of the third quarter of 2024, the median home value in Pennington County was $326,400.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 45,698 estimated households in Pennington County with an average of 2.37 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $70,768. Approximately 11.6% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Pennington County has an estimated 63.0% employment rate, with 34.1% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 94.7% holding a high school diploma.

The median age in the county was 40.2 years.

Pennington County, South Dakota – racial and ethnic composition Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos may be of any race.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 109,222 people, 44,909 households, and 27,584 families residing in the county. Of the residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18 and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 38.9 years. For every 100 females there were 100.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.5 males.

The population density was 39.3 PD/sqmi, and there were 49,153 housing units at an average density of 17.7 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 77.4% White, 1.3% African American, 10.7% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other races, and 7.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.1% of the population.

There were 44,909 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 26.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 49,153 housing units, of which 8.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.0% were owner-occupied and 36.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.0%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 100,948 people, 41,251 households, and 26,323 families residing in the county. The population density was 36.4 PD/sqmi. There were 44,949 housing units at an average density of 16.2 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 83.56% White, 1.04% African American, 9.66% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from some other races and 3.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.01% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 38.0% were German, 14.3% were Irish, 11.0% were Norwegian, 10.2% were English, and 3.6% were American.

Of the 41,251 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.2% were non-families, and 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 36.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $46,849 and the median income for a family was $57,278. Males had a median income of $38,626 versus $30,251 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,894. About 9.4% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Law enforcement & emergency services

The Pennington County Sheriff's Office provides county-wide law enforcement services to the county. There are 118 deputies in the Patrol Division, in addition court services, investigations, and operation of the Pennington County Jail. The sheriff's office is headquartered in Rapid City. The sheriff's office issues concealed pistol permits to county residents. The current Sheriff is Brian Mueller.

The Sheriff's Office also operates the Pennington County Search and Rescue (PCSAR) team, a volunteer search and rescue (SAR) team based in Rapid City, was established in 1973, prompted by a 1972 flood in Rapid City. It serves residents and tourists in the county and the Black Hills area.

Communities

Cities

• Box Elder
• Hill City
• New Underwood
• Rapid City (county seat)

Towns

• Keystone
• Quinn
• Wall
• Wasta

Census-designated places

• Ashland Heights
• Caputa
• Colonial Pine Hills
• Green Valley
• Johnson Siding
• Rapid Valley

Unincorporated communities

Source:

• Ajax
• Colonial Pine Hills
• Creighton
• Ellsworth AFB
• Farmingdale
• Hisega
• Imlay
• Owanka
• Merritt (partial)
• Mystic
• Pedro
• Rochford
• Rockerville
• Scenic
• Silver City
• Three Forks
• Wicksville

Ghost towns

• Addie Camp
• Conata
• Creighton
• Etta
• Moon
• Myers City
• Pactola
• Pedro
• Redfern
• Sheridan
• Teddy Bear
• Tigerville

Townships

• Ash
• Castle Butte
• Cedar Butte
• Conata
• Crooked Creek
• Fairview
• Flat Butte
• Huron
• Imlay
• Lake Creek
• Lake Flat
• Lake Hill
• Owanka
• Peno
• Quinn
• Rainy Creek/Cheyenne
• Scenic
• Shyne
• Sunnyside
• Wasta

Unorganized territories

• Central Pennington
• Dalzell Canyon
• East Central Pennington
• Mount Rushmore
• Northeast Pennington
• Rapid City East
• West Pennington

Politics

Pennington County is considered a conservative county, despite being more urban that the rest of the state. It has been strongly Republican for decades, having voted Republican in all but one presidential election since 1936 (Johnson's landslide victory in 1964). Republicans usually win the county with over 60% of the vote, the most recent exception being in 2008, where John McCain got 59.6% of the vote. No Democrat has garnered more than 40% of the county's vote since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Education

School districts include:

• Custer School District 16-1
• Douglas School District 51-1
• Hill City School District 51-2
• New Underwood School District 51-3
• Rapid City School District 51-4
• Wall School District 51-5

References

References

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5. Sheridan became a ghost town after the gold rush; it was inundated in 1939 by Sheridan Lake.
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30. Geography Division. (January 14, 2021). "2020 CENSUS - SCHOOL DISTRICT REFERENCE MAP: Pennington County, SD". [[United States Census Bureau]].