Rapid City Postwar Schools: Historic Context and Recommendation of National Register Eligibility

Gengler, Melissa

This is a contextual document on postwar schools in Rapid City, South Dakota. Subjects discussed include: historical background, regional/national context for postwar schools, postwar schools in Rapid City, National Register evaluations/registration requirements, and future uses of postwar school buildings. The document includes photos and maps. From the Abstract section: "The purpose of Rapid City Postwar Schools historic context report is to provide city personnel with a resource for future educational programming and to identify schools that may be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). Specifically, this report provides background information for the city to fulfill efforts to identify and document the significance of schools built within this period. This report focuses on the architecture of elementary and junior high (middle) schools built between 1949 and 1972. The report provides an analysis and history of the property type and incorporates individual site survey forms for five buildings. This report focuses on physical design features implemented throughout the city following World War II. While the schools that are the subject of this study were built as a response to intense growth and need for modernization in Rapid City, several are threatened with demolition because of similar pressures today. None of the schools are currently listed in the NRHP. In 2021 an interpretive essay entitled, “The Modern School: Postwar School Architecture in Rapid City” was prepared. Additionally, statewide contexts for Post-World War II Architecture in South Dakota prepared by Michelle L. Dennis for the South Dakota State Historic Preservation Office, Modern Residential Architecture in South Dakota, 1949-1975, and Schools in Nebraska contexts were undertaken by the state. These combined documents, along with supplemental newspaper, primary, and secondary research provide a detailed analysis of the history of the era, its resources, and its historic significance to the city. This document will focus on the history and design of school buildings in this era and the essays mentioned above should be referenced for broader or policy issues throughout this period. The post war era in Rapid City was a time of significant population growth and city expansion. The increase in population and shifting densities resulted in a public response to provide services to newly populated areas. Schools, parks, neighborhoods, and convenience services were constructed to respond to these pressures." Project funding was provided in part by a Historic Preservation Fund grant to the South Dakota State Historical Society, administered by the State, Tribal, Local Plans and Grants division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior (grant number P21AF10630).

Rapid City Postwar Schools: Historic Context and Recommendation of National Register Eligibility

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