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Blackhawk, South Dakota

Everything Blackhawk is known for

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Music in Blackhawk

Songs About Blackhawk

Blackhawk
Emmylou Harris
10%
"Blackhawk"

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History of Blackhawk

City of Presidents RoadyGoat

In downtown Rapid City, the presidents are out walking the sidewalks. Life-size bronze statues of American presidents stand on nearly every street corner, the 'City of Presidents' project that began in 2000 after a local man, Don Perdue, noticed how people couldn't stop touching a temporary Lincoln statue outside the Hotel Alex Johnson. The first four, Washington, Adams, Reagan, and the elder Bush, went up that year, and the collection has grown to honor every president since, sculpted by six different artists across about five downtown blocks. The setting fits: Rapid City is the gateway to the Black Hills and Mount Rushmore, where four presidents are carved into granite about thirty miles southwest. So you can shake a bronze president's hand downtown, then go see four more sixty feet tall in the mountains. Few cities lean this hard into the office.

7.1 mi away

Mount Rushmore: Faces in the Granite

1927

Over fourteen years, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers carved the sixty-foot faces of four presidents into the Black Hills granite, creating one of America's most iconic monuments.

19.8 mi away

Sturgis: Nine Riders and the Birth of a Legend

1938

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally began in 1938 when nine riders competed for a $500 prize on a half-mile dirt track — today it draws hundreds of thousands of riders annually to the Black Hills.

19.8 mi away

Things to Do in Blackhawk

historical 19.8 mi away
Mount Rushmore

Four presidents carved into a granite mountainside. America's most iconic landmark.

historical 19.7 mi away
Nine Riders and a Race That Changed Everything

In 1938 a motorcycle dealer named Pappy Hoel gathered nine riders for a race through the Black Hills outside Sturgis South Dakota. That was the first Sturgis…

historical 19.8 mi away
The Horse That Survived Custer's Last Stand

After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 soldiers found a badly wounded buckskin horse standing among the dead. His name was Comanche and he had carried…

historical 18.7 mi away
The Cavalry Post That Guarded the Gold

Fort Meade was built in 1878 just east of Sturgis to protect the illegal gold settlements in the Black Hills. The irony was thick. The Army was guarding miners…

quirky 19.8 mi away
When They Lit the Streets on Fire

In the 1970s the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally had a wild streak that would be hard to imagine today. At the end of the 1975 event riders doused the streets of…

historical 19.8 mi away
Pappy Hoel and the Indian Motorcycle

Clarence 'Pappy' Hoel ran an Indian motorcycle dealership in Sturgis and loved racing more than selling bikes. In 1938 he founded the Jackpine Gypsies…

historical 19.9 mi away
The Treaty That Was Broken for Gold

The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie promised the Black Hills to the Lakota Sioux for as long as the grass shall grow. Six years later Custer's expedition found…

historical 24.8 mi away
The Sheriff Who Befriended a President

Seth Bullock first met Theodore Roosevelt in 1884 while hauling a horse thief named Crazy Steve across the Dakota range. The two became lifelong friends.…

Everything Near Blackhawk

20 stories, landmarks & places within ~20 miles — the same local lore RoadyGoat plays as you drive through.

  • Cassidy House (Rapid City, South Dakota) · 6.4 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Ever wonder what a house made of steel looks like? You're near one right now! The Cassidy House is a rare example of a Lustron home, a prefabricated steel house that was briefly popular after World War II. Founded by…

  • Dinosaur Park · 6.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Imagine spotting a T-Rex from your car window, not in a museum, but perched on a hilltop overlooking a city. That's Dinosaur Park. Back in 1936, Rapid City built this park to lure tourists heading to Mount Rushmore. The…

  • Pap Madison Cabin · 6.7 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Ever wonder what the very first European settlers in the Black Hills called home? You're about to see it! This rustic log cabin isn't just old; it's the oldest Euro-American building in the entire Black Hills area. Step…

  • City of Presidents · 7.1 mi

    In downtown Rapid City, the presidents are out walking the sidewalks. Life-size bronze statues of American presidents stand on nearly every street corner, the 'City of Presidents' project that began in 2000 after a…

  • Mystic, South Dakota · 16.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    You're approaching a place where the echoes of a bustling mining town still linger: Mystic, South Dakota. In 1876, gold brought prospectors here, and the settlement was first known as Sitting Bull. The promise of riches…

  • Black Hills National Cemetery · 16.6 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Pay your respects at this solemn site, the final resting place for over 29,000 veterans. This land became a national cemetery after World War II, a response to the growing need for burial space for those who served. In…

  • The Cavalry Post That Guarded the Gold · 18.7 mi · Things to Do

    Fort Meade was built in 1878 just east of Sturgis to protect the illegal gold settlements in the Black Hills. The irony was thick. The Army was guarding miners…

  • Fort Meade (South Dakota) · 19.1 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    From the Indian Wars to World War II, Fort Meade played a pivotal role in the history of the American West. Established in 1878, the fort's original purpose was to protect the growing white settlements in the northern…

  • Nine Riders and a Race That Changed Everything · 19.7 mi · Things to Do

    In 1938 a motorcycle dealer named Pappy Hoel gathered nine riders for a race through the Black Hills outside Sturgis South Dakota. That was the first Sturgis…

  • Mount Rushmore · 19.8 mi · Scraped Hmdb

    Gutzon Borglum blasted away 450,000 tons of rock to create this colossal monument to American presidents. Borglum began sculpting Mount Rushmore in 1927. He envisioned a monumental sculpture of four U.S. presidents:…

  • Mount Rushmore · 19.8 mi · Things to Do

    Four presidents carved into a granite mountainside. America's most iconic landmark.

  • Mount Rushmore: Faces in the Granite · 19.8 mi · Historical

    Over fourteen years, sculptor Gutzon Borglum and 400 workers carved the sixty-foot faces of four presidents into the Black Hills granite, creating one of America's most iconic monuments.

Show all 20 nearby places
  • The Horse That Survived Custer's Last Stand · 19.8 mi · Things to Do

    After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 soldiers found a badly wounded buckskin horse standing among the dead. His name was Comanche and he had carried…

  • Sturgis: Nine Riders and the Birth of a Legend · 19.8 mi · Historical

    The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally began in 1938 when nine riders competed for a $500 prize on a half-mile dirt track — today it draws hundreds of thousands of riders annually to the Black Hills.

  • When They Lit the Streets on Fire · 19.8 mi · Things to Do

    In the 1970s the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally had a wild streak that would be hard to imagine today. At the end of the 1975 event riders doused the streets of…

  • Pappy Hoel and the Indian Motorcycle · 19.8 mi · Things to Do

    Clarence 'Pappy' Hoel ran an Indian motorcycle dealership in Sturgis and loved racing more than selling bikes. In 1938 he founded the Jackpine Gypsies…

  • The Colonel Who Never Saw His Town · 19.8 mi · Things to Do

    The city of Sturgis is named after Colonel Samuel D. Sturgis who commanded the 7th Cavalry at Fort Meade. Sturgis had a personal grudge against the Lakota. His…

  • The Treaty That Was Broken for Gold · 19.9 mi · Things to Do

    The 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie promised the Black Hills to the Lakota Sioux for as long as the grass shall grow. Six years later Custer's expedition found…

  • The First Rally T-Shirts Were All Maroon · 19.9 mi · Things to Do

    In 1940 just two years after the first Sturgis Rally someone had the idea to sell printed t-shirts advertising the event. Every single shirt was maroon. There…

  • Every Cavalry Regiment Served Here · 19.9 mi · Things to Do

    During the great western expansion nearly every cavalry regiment in the entire United States Army rotated through Fort Meade outside Sturgis. The post was one…

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