Pennington County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the U.S. state of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 109,222, making it the second-most populous county in South Dakota. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US ...

is Rapid City. The county was created in 1875, and was organized in 1877. It is named for

John L. Pennington John L. Pennington (1829July 9, 1900) was an American politician and newspaper publisher. He was an Alabama state senator, and the fifth Governors of Dakota Territory, Governor of Dakota Territory. Biography Pennington was born at the town of New ...

, fifth

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

, who held office in 1875 when the county was formed. Pennington County is included in the Rapid City

metropolitan statistical area In the United States, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is a geographical region with a relatively high population density at its core and close economic ties throughout the area. Such regions are neither legally Incorporated town, incorporate ...

. It is also the location of

Mount Rushmore Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a national memorial centered on a colossal sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore ( Lakota: ''Tȟuŋkášila Šákpe'', or Six Grandfathers) in the Black Hills near Keystone, South Dako ...

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 Black Elk Peak is the highest natural point in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the Midwestern United States. It lies in the Black Elk Wilderness area, in southern Pennington County, in the Black Hills National Forest. The peak lies west-so ...

, and made a toast to US General

William S. Harney William Selby Harney (August 22, 1800 – May 9, 1889) was a Tennessee-born cavalry officer in the US Army, who became known during the Indian Wars and the Mexican–American War for his brutality and ruthlessness. One of four general officers ...

. 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 a treaty 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

began. Shortly after the US entered

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, an Army training airbase was established in Pennington County. It has continued until the present, now known as

Ellsworth Air Force Base Ellsworth Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base located about northeast of Rapid City, South Dakota, just north of the town of Box Elder. The host unit at Ellsworth is the 28th Bomb Wing (28 BW). Assigned to the Global Stri ...

. Supporting this activity has provided a substantial portion of the county's economic base since that time.''History - Pennington County'' (accessed February 8, 2019)
/ref>

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 Wyoming () is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the sou ...

. Its west end contains the nation's highest peak east of the

continental divide A continental divide is a drainage divide on a continent such that the drainage basin on one side of the divide feeds into one ocean or sea, and the basin on the other side either feeds into a different ocean or sea, or else is endorheic, no ...

. The rugged arid western end contains forest and gullies, descendending to rough rolling hill country in the east. The

Cheyenne River The Cheyenne River ( lkt, Wakpá Wašté; "Good River"), also written ''Chyone'', referring to the Cheyenne people who once lived there, is a tributary of the Missouri River in the U.S. states of Wyoming and South Dakota. It is approximate ...

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.''Pennington County SD'' Google Maps (accessed 8 February 2019)
/ref> The county terrain varies in elevation from Black Elk Peak at 7,242' (2207m) to its NE corner, at 1,896' (578m) ASL. Pennington County has a total area of , of which is land and (0.3%) is water. It is the third-largest county in South Dakota by area.

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, a ...

* U.S. Highway 14 *

U.S. Highway 16 U.S. Route 16 (US 16) is an east–west United States Highway between Rapid City, South Dakota and Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. The highway's eastern terminus is at a junction with Interstate 90/U.S. Route 14 (I-90/US 14), conc ...

U.S. Highway 16A U.S. Highway 16A (US 16A) is a scenic United States Numbered Highway. It is an alternate route for US 16. It splits from US 16 in the Black Hills of the southwestern part of the U.S. state of South Dakota. The highway's ...

U.S. Highway 385 U.S. Route 385 (US 385) is a spur of U.S. Route 85 that runs for 1,206 miles (1,941 km) from Deadwood, South Dakota to Big Bend National Park in Texas. Route description , - , TX , 545 , 877 , - , OK , 36 , 58 , - , CO , 317 , 510 ...

* South Dakota Highway 40 * South Dakota Highway 44 * South Dakota Highway 240 * South Dakota Highway 244

Adjacent counties

* Meade County – north * Ziebach County - northeast *

Haakon County Haakon County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,872. Its county seat is Philip. History The county was created in 1914 and organized in 1915, and was formed from the original countie ...

– northeast * Jackson County – southeast * Oglala Lakota County – south * Custer County – southwest *

Weston County, Wyoming Weston County is a county in the U.S. state of Wyoming. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 6,838. Its county seat is Newcastle. Its east boundary line abuts the west line of the state of South Dakota. History Weston C ...

– west * Lawrence County – northwest

National protected areas

* Badlands National Park (part) **

Badlands Wilderness Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, m ...

* Black Hills National Forest (part) **

Black Elk Wilderness The Black Elk Wilderness is located in the U.S. state of South Dakota. The wilderness was designated by an act of Congress in 1980. Managed by the U.S. Forest Service, Black Elk Wilderness is part of Black Hills National Forest. This 13,426 acre ...

(part) * Buffalo Gap National Grassland (part) * Minuteman Missile National Historic Site (part) * Mount Rushmore National Memorial

Lakes and reservoirs

* Deerfield Lake * Pactola Reservoir * Shearer Lake * Sheridan Lake

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 88,565 people, 34,641 households, and 23,278 families in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 32 people per square mile (12/km²). There were 37,249 housing units at an average density of 13 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.70%

White White is the lightness, lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...

, 0.85%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ha ...

African American African Americans (also referre