The Black Hills had become popular in the late 1890s, but Rapid City became a more important destination in the 20th century. By 1900, Rapid City had survived a boom and bust and was developing as an important regional trade center for the Upper Midwest. The city's location on the edge of the Plains and Hills and its large river valley made it a natural hub for the railroads that were constructed in the late 1880s from both the south and east. Such merchants soon began selling supplies to miners and pioneers. Committees were appointed to recruit prospective merchants and their families to locate in the settlement. The land speculators measured off a square mile and designated the six blocks in the center as a business section. It was eventually named for the spring-fed Rapid Creek that flows through it. In February 1876, John Richard Brennan and Samuel Scott, with a small group of men, laid out Rapid City. The 'Gateway' nickname is shared by neighboring Box Elder. A group of unsuccessful miners founded Rapid City in 1876, trying to create other chances they promoted their new city as the 'Gateway to the Black Hills' it was originally known as Hay Camp. The public discovery of gold in 1874 by the Black Hills Expedition, led by George Armstrong Custer, brought a mass influx of European-American miners and settlers into this region of the Dakota Territory.

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To the city's east is Badlands National Park. In the neighboring Black Hills are the tourist attractions of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Memorial, Custer State Park, Wind Cave National Park, Jewel Cave National Monument, and the museum at the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research. The historic ' Old West' town of Deadwood is nearby. Rapid City is home to such attractions as Art Alley, Dinosaur Park, the City of Presidents walking tour, Chapel in the Hills, Storybook Island, and Main Street Square. Camp Rapid, part of the South Dakota Army National Guard, is in the city's western part. Ellsworth Air Force Base is on the city's outskirts. Known as the 'Gateway to the Black Hills' and the 'City of Presidents' because of the life-size bronze president statues downtown, Rapid City is split by a low mountain ridge that divides the city's western and eastern parts. The population was 74,703 as of the 2020 Census.

Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western South Dakota, on the Black Hills' eastern slope.

Rapid City (Lakota: Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe 'Swift Water City') is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County.

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