The story
History
In 1874, US Army commander George A. Custer led a group into the Black Hills area. He and some of his officers climbed the crest now called Black Elk Peak, and made a toast to US General William S. Harney. They named the peak for Harney, and this name was used until 2016. This expedition reported that gold could be found in the Black Hills, which spurred a gold rush into the future county area. The mining settlements that sprang up were in violation of the second Treaty of Fort Laramie signed with the Sioux Nation in 1868. By 1875, settlement was sufficient to justify creation of a local governing organization, so Pennington County was created on January 11, 1875, and it was fully organized by April 19, 1877. The county's boundaries were adjusted in 1877 and in 1898.
The county seat was initially at Sheridan, a mining camp. (Sheridan is credited with hosting the first Federal Court west of the Missouri River.) In 1878, the county seat was moved to Rapid City.
In 1923, Doane Robinson, superintendent of the SD State Historical Society, began promoting the concept of a giant sculpture carved from a Black Hills mountain. By 1927 this concept took substance, when work on Mount Rushmore began.
Shortly after the US entered World War II, an Army training airbase was established in Pennington County. It has continued until the present, now known as Ellsworth Air Force Base. Supporting this activity has provided a substantial portion of the county's economic base since that time.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 109,222 people, 44,909 households, and 27,584 families residing in the county. Of the residents, 22.4% were under the age of 18 and 18.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 38.9 years. For every 100 females there were 100.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.5 males.
The population density was 39.3 inhabitants per square mile (15.2/km2), and there were 49,153 housing units at an average density of 17.7 per square mile (6.8/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 77.4% White, 1.3% African American, 10.7% Native American, 1.4% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other races, and 7.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 5.1% of the population.
There were 44,909 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 26.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 31.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 49,153 housing units, of which 8.6% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 64.0% were owner-occupied and 36.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.0%.
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2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 100,948 people, 41,251 households, and 26,323 families residing in the county. The population density was 36.4 inhabitants per square mile (14.1/km2). There were 44,949 housing units at an average density of 16.2 per square mile (6.3/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 83.56% White, 1.04% African American, 9.66% Native American, 1.04% Asian, 0.08% Pacific Islander, 0.81% from some other races and 3.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.01% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 38.0% were German, 14.3% were Irish, 11.0% were Norwegian, 10.2% were English, and 3.6% were American.
Of the 41,251 households, 31.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.1% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.2% were non-families, and 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 36.8 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $46,849 and the median income for a family was $57,278. Males had a median income of $38,626 versus $30,251 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,894. About 9.4% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.7% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.
From Wikipedia’s article on Pennington County, South Dakota, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4