01/25/2026
When you’re in the Hills, make a trip to this -still free- attraction! Historical charm with recent renovations to the walkways, stairs and even has a chair accessible ramp now!! Well worth the visit. Their gift shop is packed with fun!
Gift shop is closed for the season but the Dinos are accessible 365 days a year!!
An iconic photo of an iconic Black Hills location came into our collection recently! Let's talk about it!
When this photo entered our collection, we did not give it another thought. We had seen and heard of this iconic location a million times over, but then briefly we thought to ourselves... What actually is the history, and what was the thought behind "Dinosaur Park" in Rapid City!?! Also, why does the popular band Owl City want to know what happens there after dark!?
Well, to answer our first question on the history of "Dinosaur Park," we had to do some research! Here is what we found!
Dinosaur Park was established in the year 1936. The beloved attraction was part of a Depression era WPA project. This project's goals were to provide jobs, put some money in the workers' pockets, and add a new tourist attraction to the thriving metropolis of Rapid City. The idea was that this attraction would bring people to Rapid City on their way to the eventual Mount Rushmore. This was at a time when Rapid did not have a ton of thriving tourist attractions. So, the idea of a mountain filled with dinosaurs seemed like a great idea!
Now, for the origin of it and how it came to be! In 1935, the Chamber of Commerce in Rapid City, South Dakota, lay out an idea for an up and coming tourism hot spot. It would go on to be known as Dinosaur Park. Of course, in our research, we did find that there was some history of two stories on how it came to be fruition.
Like every iconic location, there seem to be two stories on the origin... However, according to a Rapid City historian. The story is that the secretary of the Chamber of Commerce in Rapid City at the time who went by the name R. L. Bronson had come up with the idea when he took a trip to the windy city of Chicago. It was there that he encountered a mechanical attraction. It was a Brontosaurus! Secretary Bronson thought up the idea then and there. He would later go on to make the point that the Black Hills are a haven for prehistoric fossils and that it would make the perfect place for a dinosaur attraction! So, the idea was born.
After bringing the idea back home to the great state of South Dakota, the next step was to meet with a real-life Dinosaur historian... The textbooks referred to this person as a paleontologist! His name was Barnum Brown. His official title was "Head Paleontological Consultant." Brown went on to provide Rapid City with the absolute accurate measurements and historical descriptions of each dinosaur on the mountain.
After the city consulted with Barnum Brown, the next step was to bring in a dinosaur theme park designer and engineer. Ya, that was a thing! Turns out Dinosaur theme parks were a thing before they were a movie idea... Emmett Sullivan was his name, and his title was Chief Dinosaur Sculptor and Designer. Now, I dont know about you, but that job title sounds like the coolest job title you can have! Sullivan also teamed up with the WPA to construct the park. According to historical records, he had a WPA staff of 25 helping him construct the famous iconic park.
A quick note: Dinosaur Park couldn't have been a thing without a road. Special thanks to the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, also known as (FERA) for making Skyline Drive a thing! This made way for main access to the park. Now, like every project or theme park project, there is always drama... The kids these days call it "the tea." Anyway... turns out that in 1937, the Chief sculptor and the WPA got into a bit of heated argument. Any guesses as to what that was about?!... The dinosaur's teeth... Yup. You read that right. The argument was so heated that Sullivan retired from the project. It turns out that a lead construction engineer and him did not see eye to eye or should we say tooth to tooth on the installation idea of the T-Rex teeth. Long story short, this pushed the project finishing date to the year 1938.
We read online that the entire cost for the dinosaur park would go on to have a price tag of $25,000.00 in 1938. In 2026, that price tag would look a bit different... more like $570,000.00 dollars.
Dinosaur Park had other big plans as well, though. They wanted a full park with all the additions! There were even plans to bring in real-life dinosaur footprints for a large display. These prints were actually found in the outer lying areas of the Black Hills. We were told that never came to fruition, though. Possibly due to the cost of transportation, that would have been super expensive! Additionally, the park also had a large log gazebo type building on site. Of course, over time, the park had additions and renovations! In the 1960s, the park got its own gift shop and snack shop! On top of that, some of the dinosaurs were refurbished after mother nature did her thing to them. In the 1990s, the famed attraction would go on to be added to the National Register of Historic Places. In 2024, the city spent 3 million on a restoration aimed at walking paths and large sets of stairs, among many other things.
The park was noted as being the kickstarter for Rapid City's monumental tourism boom!
Today, the park is still just as iconic and still greets tourists with the same historic dinosaurs on the hill. In fact, over 200,000 tourists visit the park every year to see the giants that have been welcoming visitors alike since 1938.
As for question number 2... Like the famous band "Owl City" poses "What happens after dark on dinosaur park?!" Well, maybe we do not want to know the answer to that... We will let your imaginations run with that one, haha.
We hope you enjoyed this look into some Black Hills history. Check back soon for more!
-HBP
