Hill City, South Dakota Hill City Hill City, South Dakota Website City of Hill City Hill City is the earliest existing town/city in Pennington County, South Dakota, United States.
Hill City is positioned 26 miles (42 km) southwest of Rapid City on State Highway 16 and on U.S.
Hill City is known as the "Heart of the Hills" which is derived from its close adjacency to both the geographical center of the Black Hills, and the small-town tourist destinations.
The town/city has its roots in the Black Hills quarrying rush of the late 19th century.
With the establishment of Mount Rushmore in the 1940s, Custer State Park, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, the Black Hills became known as a tourist destination which Hill City benefited from.
In recent years the town/city has diversified to turn into a center for the arts in the region featuring a several art studios and festivals. Human history in the region that became Hill City, and the greater Black Hills in particular, started by at least 7000 BC.
In 1874, Major General George Armstrong Custer led an expedition into the Black Hills, amid which gold was identified in French Creek, 13 miles (21 km) south of Hill City.
The discernment of gold opened the Black Hills, and the Hill City area, to mining.
Hill City was first settled by miners in 1876, who referred to the region as Hillyo.
This was the second American settlement in the Black Hills. Hill City is the earliest town/city still in existence in Pennington County. A postal service was constructed and opened on November 26, 1877. The town/city almost became a ghost town when miners relocated to the northern Black Hills after the discernment of gold there.
In 1883, tin was identified near Hill City, and the populace rebounded.
On July 10, 1939, a fire started 10 miles (16 km) outside of Hill City.
Among those who battled the blaze was Hill City High School's entire basketball squad, as well as a several teachers and administrators.
The school team name thus became the Hill City Rangers and was privileged as the only school precinct in the United States allowed to use Smokey Bear as its official mascot. Hill City was incorporated on March 21, 1945. The Harney Peak Hotel remained in operation until 1934.
This building is on the List of Registered Historic Places in South Dakota. The Black Hills Institute of Geological Research opened in 1973 and is involved in the excavation and display of dinosaur and other fossils. In 1992, the institute was engaged in a legal battle over ownership of the Tyrannosaurus rex fossil titled "Sue".
A Black Hills Central Railroad train steams out of Hill City in 2001, bound for Keystone, South Dakota.
The chief barns lines that intersected Hill City were the Burlington Northern Line (also called the High Line), previously the Grand Island and Wyoming Central, directed by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad Company; and the Black Hills Central Line, a spur that extended from Hill City to Keystone.
The High Line extended from Edgemont north through Hill City and terminated in Deadwood.
This line reached Hill City in 1893, and the Black Hills Central Line was extended and reached Keystone on January 20, 1900. Narrow gauge street car cars were directed at 45-minute intervals amid the day on the High Line.
In 1957, the Black Hills Central Railroad, also known locally as the 1880 Train, opened a tourist passenger train on the Black Hills Central Line.
In 1972, a flood finished the last mile of the Burlington Northern and Black Hills Central Lines that extended from Hill City to Keystone.
The Black Hills Central Railroad restores era-style locomotives and train cars.
On August 12, 1990, Sue Hendrickson, an American paleontologist working for the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research identified the fossil of what would turn into the most complete skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever identified.
After discernment , excavation, and transport to the institute's facilities in Hill City, controversy arose as to who the rightful owners of the fossil was.
The parties in dispute were the territory owner, Maurice Williams; the tribe, and thus the federal government; and the Black Hills Institute.
Hill City is positioned in the Black Hills at 43 56 01 N 103 34 17 W (43.933675, -103.571415) near the geographic center of the Black Hills, which is where the metros/cities motto "The Heart of the Hills" originated.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 1.27 square miles (3.29 km2), of which, 1.26 square miles (3.26 km2) is territory and 0.01 square miles (0.03 km2) is water. Hill City has been assigned the ZIP code 57745 and the FIPS place code 29100.
The climate of Hill City is dry with an average of 20 inches (510 mm) of rain annually.
The existence of the hills encircling the town leads to cooler weather in winter and summer and makes for calm conditions with little wind compared to areas outside of the Black Hills. The Koppen climate type of this locale is Dwb, often described as the dry-winter version of the Warm Summer Humid Continental climate.
Climate data for Hill City, South Dakota Hill City incorporates a Mayor-Council style of governance in which the mayor is the chief executor and the council has legislative control over town/city ordinances.
The town/city is broken into two wards with two members of the town/city council propel from each ward to serve two-year terms.
The city's financial officer administrates town/city offices, council activities, mayoral activities, department and personnel management, while also acting as financial control of town/city assets, budgets, and fiscal activities. The primary source of town/city income is through a revenue tax.
In the South Dakota State Legislature, Hill City is represented by two delegates and one senator from District 30 who all serve two-year terms corresponding to even numbered years.
The precinct encompasses all of Fall River County, Custer County, and most of Pennington nation excluding most of the Rapid City region in the north central part of the county. The senator is Bruce Rampelberg, a second-term Republican from Rapid City. The delegates are Lance Russell, a third-term Republican from Hot Springs, and Mike Verchio, a third-term Republican from Hill City. Hill City has a voluntary ambulance service and voluntary fire department.
There is a small library in town with a compilation of 7,338 books and various audio and visual resources. The Pennington Country Sheriff's Department has allocated three deputies to serve the Hill City area. Employment in Hill City is based on the timber, tourism, and telecommunications industries.
The timber trade is meaningful to Hill City since it is positioned in the Black Hills National Forest.
Tourism is enabled by Hill City's adjacency to Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, and the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.
Hill City has increasingly turn into the arts improve of the Black Hills, and is the home to the Warrior's Work loggia, which features both Indian art and art reflecting the West, Black Hills Bronze, and the home loggia of well-known small-town painter Jon Crane.
Hill City collects a 2% revenue tax on general merchandise, and an additional 1% on lodging, restaurants, alcohol, and ticket sales. Hill City does not tax income on company or individuals.
Hill City School District 51-2 is made up of elementary, middle, and high schools positioned in separate buildings on the same campus.
The previous high school was razed in 2003. Hill City District 51-2 schools are dominantly funded through property tax on those living in the school district.
Enrollment as of the 2010-2011 school year was 506, while the majority live outside the town/city limits.
The school also serves the town of Keystone, South Dakota, and the unincorporated suburbs of Rochford, and Silver City.
The Hill City Schools made AYP under the No Child Left Behind Legislation at every undertaking level and at every subgroup.
Hill City is becoming a center for the Black Hills visual arts community.
The Hill City Arts Council oversees the promotion of the arts in the city, as well as a several arts affairs throughout the year including the annual Art Extravaganza put on by the small-town artists and Arts and Crafts fair which draws more county-wide influence.
The Hill City Slickers is a musical group that plays country, folk, and bluegrass music as well as initial music.
In 2003 they were featured artists with the Black Hills Symphony Orchestra.
Hill City is home to the Black Hills Museum of Natural History, which came out of the vision of the Black Hills Institute for Geological Research.
The exhibition is also a dominant contributor to Hill City's Natural History Days celebration that focuses on fun and education, with guest speakers, and a fossil hunt for children. Wade's Gold Mill and Mining Museum offers a look back on the history of quarrying in the Black Hills.
The exhibition has worked to collect and preserve equipment used of quarrying in the Black Hills and hosts a one-stamp gold mill. Although citizens of many faiths live in Hill City, five groups have established church buildings in town.
Coach Gins Court in Hill City, SD.
Hill City High School is a member of the South Dakota High School Activities Association and competes in class "A".
Hill City is the ninth trailhead on the George S.
Snowmobiling is also appreciateed in the region with groomed paths running through Hill City and the encircling Black Hills.
Two snowmobiling magazines have rated the Black Hills as one of the best places to ride in North America. Watson Parker, historian specializing in the history of the Black Hills; raised on a ranch near Hill City. The tv and airways broadcasts available in Hill City are generally based out of the Rapid City market. Hill City does have one FM station, 103.9 K280 - AJ, which is a translator station of KRCS Sturgis. The Hill City Prevailer is a weekly journal covering small-town issues in Hill City and Keystone.
Art of the Hills Magazine is a bi-annual printed announcement focusing on visual and performing arts and creative writing in Hill City and the Black Hills. a b "Hill City".
Black Hills Visitor Magazine.
"Hill City".
The Story of the Hill City School Mascot, Retrieved on June 8, 2007 "Alpine Inn Hill City".
"Black Hills Institute of Geological Research".
"A Time Line of Black Hills Railroads".
"Black Hills 1880 Central Railroad Train".
Black Hills Institute of Geological Research.
Hill City School District "Average Weather for Hill City, South Dakota".
"Hill City, South Dakota - Climate Summary".
Hill City, SD - Hill City Hill City, South Dakota (SD) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, news, sex offenders Hill City Profile Hill City Rangers Home Page Welcome to Hill City Area Arts Council Hill City Galleries and Opportunities Hill City Chamber of Commerce - Western Romance and Wedding Directory "Hill City Rangers!".
"'Dean' of Black Hills history dies".
"Hill City, South Dakota".
"Art of the Hills Magazine".
Hill City's Website Hill City Chamber of Commerce Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming
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Cities in South Dakota - Cities in Pennington County, South Dakota - Rapid City urbane region - Black Hills
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