1953 Map of Rapid City West

About this map

Black Hills National Forest dominates the western half of this landscape, where the terrain is deeply carved by drainages like Wild Irishman Gulch and Cleghorn Canyon. To the east, the mid-century expansion of Rapid City begins to press against the limestone ridges. The urban fringe is marked by essential local institutions, including the Sioux Sanatorium, Bennett Clarkson Hospital, and Camp Rapid. These 1953 field-checked records show a dense network of rural education, with small schoolhouses such as Doty Sch, Winther Sch, and Whispering Pine Sch serving outlying homesteads and mountain valleys.