# List of mayors of Rapid City, South Dakota

Rapid City, South Dakota was founded in 1876 and was run by a village board of trustees until 1882, when John Richard Brennan, a member of the board and cofounder of the city, was chosen as mayor. Two months after the city was incorporated, Fred E. Stearns was elected mayor. The first form of elected government was mayor–council with an elected strong mayor. From 1910 to 1922, a city commission government was used. Later that year, the system of government was changed to council–manager. Rapid City returned to a mayor–council government in 1957. The Rapid City Council chose to extend the mayoral term to four years in 2015, and the change took effect in 2019. Former mayors Edward R. McLaughlin and Jim Shaw agreed with the change. There is no term limit.

## List

| Name (term) | Term Began | Term End | Notes |
| John Richard Brennan | 1882 | 1883 | (1848–1919) One of four founders of the city in 1876 |
| Fred E. Stearns | 1883 | 1884 | Known as the "cattle king of the foothills" |
| James Halley II | 1884 | 1886 | (1854–1920) |
| Andrew Jackson Simmons | 1886 | 1887 | (1834–1920) Born in New York, Simmons joined the California gold fields in 1853. He was speaker of territorial legislature of Nevada and mined at Alder Gulch in Montana in 1860's. He was colleague of Mark Twain. He was appointed Special Agent and titled Major by President Grant to obtain a right of way for railroad on a reservation, negotiating with Sitting Bull and other chiefs. In 1872, he took a part of the tribe members to Washington; Grant gave each an 1871 peace medal. Major Simmons was appointed Indian Agent at Milk River Agency Montana Territory. He arrived in Deadwood in 1878 engaging in mining activities including the Echo near Maitland. In 1882 he purchased 160 acres near the town site of Rapid City and built the Park Hotel. He donated land for the Missouri Valley Railroad. |
| John F. Schrader | 1887 | 1888 | (1855–1934) |
| David H. Clark | 1888 | 1890 | (1855–1891) |
| James Moses Woods | 1890 | 1894 | |
| Chauncey Lynch Wood (1) | 1894 | 1896 | First mayor to serve separate terms (1851–1911) Born in Jones County, Iowa; graduated from law school in 1875 and moved to Rapid City in 1878. Later moved to Seattle, where he died. Admitted to practice law before the United States Department of the Interior in 1901, also served as state's attorney in Pennington County. Was affiliated with the Socialist Party of America during the 1902 United States elections, represented the Democratic Party in the 1910 South Dakota gubernatorial election. |
| Valentine McGillycuddy | 1896 | 1898 | (1849–1939) |
| George B. Mansfield | 1898 | 1899 | |
| Chauncey Lynch Wood (2) | 1899 | 1900 | |
| Charles Wellington Brown | 1900 | 1902 | (1859–1912) |
| Ferdinand N. Emrick | 1902 | 1908 | Dentist (d. 1930) |
| Chauncey Lynch Wood (3) | 1908 | 1910 | |
| Robert J. Jackson | 1910 | 1912 | |
| Fred H. Rugg | 1912 | 1914 | Progressive Party presidential elector in 1912 |
| William E. Robinson | 1914 | 1918 | |
| John L. Burke | 1919 | 1920 |
| Claude E. Gray | 1920 | 1922 | |
| Harry Wentzy | 1922 | 1924 | Died in office |
| John Abram Boland | 1924 | 1925 | (1884–1958) |
| Charles Tittle | 1925 | 1926 | |
| Arthur Lampert | 1926 | 1927 | |
| Victor Jepson | 1927 | 1928 | |
| Eugene Bangs | 1928 | 1929 | |
| Theodore B. Werner | 1929 | 1930 | (1892–1989) |
| Winfield Morrill | 1930 | 1931 | |
| Melville Babington | 1931 | 1932 | |
| Fred Merritt | 1933 | 1934 | |
| Charles Leroy Doherty | 1934 | 1936 | (1889–1979) |
| Norbert De Kerchove | 1937 | 1938 | |
| Robert S. Hill | 1938 | 1943 | (1883–1970) |
| Therlo Burrington | 1943 | 1944 | |
| Stanton Neil | 1944 | 1946 | |
| Fred Dusek (1) | 1946 | 1948 | (1900–1984) Member of the Rapid City Common Council (1936–1947) |
| Earl Brockelsby | 1948 | 1949 | Founded the Black Hills Reptile Gardens |
| Isaac Chase | 1949 | 1951 | |
| Augustus Haines | 1951 | 1953 | (1900–1991) |
| Montford Wasser | 1953 | 1954 | |
| Harry R. Johnson | 1954 | 1955 | |
| Don L'Esperance | 1955 | 1956 | (1919–2008) |
| Henry Jay Baker (1) | 1956 | 1957 | |
| Fred Dusek (2) | 1957 | 1961 | Second and third terms. After serving his third term, also ran for the office in 1965 and 1975. |
| Willis Raff | 1961 | 1963 | |
| Phil Schroeder | 1963 | 1965 | introduced poverty reduction initiatives |
| Henry Jay Baker (2) | 1965 | 1969 | |
| Jack Allmon | 1969 | 1970 | |
| John Barnes | 1970 | 1971 | |
| Donald V. Barnett | 1971 | 1975 | Mayor at time of the Black Hills Flood of 1972, also known as the Rapid City Flood, with a death toll of more than 200 |
| Arthur Lacroix | 1975 | 1987 | |
| Keith Carlyle | 1987 | 1991 | |
| Edward R. McLaughlin | 1991 | 1997 | (born 1928) |
| Jim Shaw (1) | 1997 | 2001 | (1946–2024) |
| Jerry Munson | 2001 | 2003 | (1955–2023) member and president of the Rapid City Common Council (1999–2001) owned a fishing boat dealership and outdoor advertising agency |
| Jim Shaw (2) | 2003 | 2007 | |
| Alan Hanks | 2007 | 2011 | (born 1960) |
| Sam Kooiker | 2011 | 2015 | (born 1974) |
| Steve Allender | 2015 | 2023 | |
| Jason Salamun | 2023 | | |
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