The 1972 Black Hills Flood, also known as the Rapid City Flood, was one of the largest river floods in contemporary American history. It not only affected Rapid City but also surrounding Black Hills communities such as Keystone, Sturgis, Nemo, and Box Elder. The disaster claimed over two hundred lives—those who either lived within or were visiting the Black Hills—and displaced thousands more, prompting enormous changes in the city’s layout. These included nearly one thousand acres of land being turned into recreational greenspaces that constitute a floodway, a revised housing and floodplain policy, and new mitigation and prevention practices along the banks of Rapid Creek.