Dinosaur Park

Dedicated on May 22, 1936, Dinosaur Park was built by the City of Rapid City and the Works Progress Administration to pull tourists already heading to Mount Rushmore up a ridge above the city. Sculptor Emmet Sullivan designed seven concrete dinosaurs — constructed over black iron pipe and wire mesh — that still overlook Rapid City today. The park cost $25,000 to complete, admission remains free, and the city credits it with beginning Rapid City's transformation into a major tourist destination. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.