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| © 2012 Raben Real Estate |
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| South Dakota Black Hills Settler News |
Rapid City
The City of Presidents
New Additions |
Imagine walking down St. Joseph Street and then on to Main Street and meeting, on your way, past American Presidents. They will be found on street corners, standing life size, and created in bronze by leading Western South Dakota sculptors. Visitors and residents alike will be able to walk among the Presidents and be photographed face to face and side by side with them. That is especially enjoyable for children and their grandparents.
 Each President is actual height and dressed appropriately for the period in which he lived. Each year two Presidents from the beginning of the Presidency and two beginning with contemporary past Presidents will be created and placed on Rapid City’s downtown streets. A ten-year completion date is anticipated for the project. Park your car at main street square and enjoy the walking tour. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| The Beautiful Black Hills Where the Altitude Affects Your Attitude |
| Rapid City is listed at 3,250 feet above sea level not considering all the higher elevations and fabulous views scattered throughout the city. The highest points in the area are located at Harney Peak (over 7,000 feet) and our ski areas (almost as high). Some of the communities have an elevation over 1 mile above sea level. These heights provide the gift of some amazing blue skies and towering white clouds to go with our clean mountain air. |
| The books tell us that Harney Peak is the highest point between the Pyrenees and the Rocky Mountains which is still pretty great for an area that was once 15,000 feet high a few tens of millions of years ago - erosion will do that! In summary, being at a high elevation with clean air and at the top of the watershed combined with an energizing climate and miles and miles of public, state and federal lands to enjoy, it all contributes even more to the Black Hills as a great place to enjoy the good life. |
| A few years ago, a family (newly arrived from Kansas) was working with us to buy a home. At one point, the wife, who had been driving around on her own, called in despair and said, “I hate it here. Wherever I try to drive, there’s a hill in the way.” Now, after living here a few years, she has the right attitude - those hills offer great views! |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
Hikers and
Mountain Bikers |
| Hikers and bikers enjoy special benefits in the Hills. For the physical size of the region, it offers hundreds of miles of trails to enable you to explore and enjoy the natural beauty of the scenery and serenity of the Paha Sapa (the Black Hills). One trail runs from Deadwood to Pringle (the Mickelson Trail) along the abandoned Burlington-Northern Railroad Line, the Centennial Trail runs from Bear Butte to Wind Cave (close to Hot Springs) and there are other trails in the Central Hills like Black Elk Wilderness and Norbeck Wildlife Preserve. Contact us for information or just click on Black Hills Maps. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| More Good News for Our Area about Rapid City Air Quality |
| A recent article in the Rapid City Journal reported that the American Lung Association rated Rapid City as one of four U. S. Cities with the country’s cleanest air. Our altitude of 3,202 feet and the mountains in the area (Harney Peak tops out at 7,242 feet) also further improve air quality. When my parents moved to the Black Hills in 1937, they built a home on what my mother called Hurricane Hill (not true), but she had been living in flat country (remember the dust bowl days of the 1930’s) and soon learned to appreciate the climate, the views, and our lifestyle in the Black Hills - the beautiful Paha Sapa (Lakota). For more area climate information, go to wwww.rapidcityrealestate.com and click on “Climate” to visit our sensational season overview. Why is it so great you ask? Air circulation from around the mountains, no major pollution generators (but a regional center for services), recreation, medical facilities, education, transportation and retirement areas, fresh air, clean and abundant water resources, and all the added benefits of good living without a lot of metro area problems. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
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| History & Who We Are |
| Our great grandfather and grandmother left Denmark and settled in Dakota Territory just before South Dakota Statehood. That may not qualify us as natives but certainly long-term settlers. With a five generation history in the state, we hope that some of our experience and knowledge will offer visitors an understanding and insight into life in the Black Hills - the beautiful Paha Sapa. Today we are professional Realtors. We locate properties, we sell properties and we are an information resource for this area. We do not have paid advertising on this site but offer links and articles about the Black Hills. Enjoy and if you have any information requests, let us know. The Rabens |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
Year-Around Fishing |
| From fly fishing to ice fishing, the fishing season never closes in South Dakota which makes the pursuit of trout a year-round sport. The Black Hills are home to 14 mountain lakes and more than 300 miles of meandering streams containing brook, brown and rainbow trout. The surrounding prairie has reservoirs and stock dams that have walleyes, largemouth bass, northern pike, catfish and a variety of panfish. Because the Black Hills are user-friendly, you don’t have to drive a hundred miles to get to your favorite fishing spot. Most of the communities have fishing available within the city and there are no lines to stand in and no waiting to get to your favorite fishing hole. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| Small Town Living with Big City Activities, Services & Advantages |
The Rapid City limits cover about 45 square miles (larger than the San Francisco, CA, city limits) with a population of about 100,000 people. In that area, we enjoy large parks and formal gardens, picnic areas, greenways, recreation and playing fields for soccer, baseball, football and more such as recently added aquatic parks and, 2 new hockey/ice facility for year-around events and miles and miles of scenic paths for bicycles, walking and jogging. If you’re into fishing, we have several lakes and Rapid Creek flowing through the community. All of this located in our beautiful mountains has enhanced the outdoor pleasures. And to complement all that, we are the regional center for an area of hundreds of thousands of people and, in the tourist season, millions of visitors for conventions and “seeing the sights.” Add to all that our first-class regional medical services, entertainment from Broadway musicals to theatre and rodeos, shopping, good dining, retirement facilities, education though college and university level, an exciting art community and volumes more. (Check out www.blackhills.com/deadwood.) Package that all together with a cost of living that is one of the most affordable in the country and you’ve found an excellent reason to explore your options in Rapid City in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota. When you consider that it all started as a “Hay Camp” over one hundred years ago where it delivered supplies to larger mining communities in the hills, Rapid City has done well for itself and it’s residents.
By the way: If you are into it, there are golf offerings throughout the whole area and especially the Rapid City area. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| Communications |
In the past, communication was handled with the technology of that time. Multiple letter copies were made with carbon paper or a hectograph (A gelatin tray and a purple-inked master was good for about 20 copies.) The new mimeograph quickly surpassed that with multiple copies made by cranking the drum. The Thermofax copied on special paper and lasted 7 years before fading away. Then the fax and computers appeared along with the internet, e-mail, cell phones, networking, and other tools. Now people are linked with websites, You Tube, Twitter, texting, etc. The world is at our fingertips on our keyboard and with other high-tech tools never imagined 80 years ago.
I kind of miss the “personal touch” - telephone calls on a party line
with someone yelling,“GET OFF THE LINE!” |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2013 |
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Year-Around Good Times and Events |
| The Black Hills area offers an amazing menu of experiences and adventures to visitors and to residents alike. Deadwood is a good example. It is located at close to a mile high in the mountain country with bright blue sky and fresh air and surrounded by western history. The new Deadwood offers gaming, entertainment for adults and children, history and access to skiing and snowmobiling in winter. All of this is only minutes from Mt. Rushmore and Spearfish Canyon. Spend some time in the high country touring old mines and ghost towns. The Queen City, Spearfish, is the home of Black Hills State University and, with everything else, is increasingly popular as a regional retirement center. Lead, SD, Deadwood’s sister city, is the site of a new national neutrino research center. The other area cities and towns are also growing. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| WE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA |
| are comprised of different heritages, religions and other variations but our common bonds are our freedoms and being Americans first and foremost. In this troubled and fast-changing world, we must sustain our system of government and work as one toward its preservation. The tragedy of September 11, 2001, acted as a catalyst to unify us toward the goal of protecting our way of life, our people and our democratic heritage. When many of our ancestors arrived here, they were seeking the very things that, by and large, we enjoy today. We are aware of the injustices that occurred to Black Americans and the unfairness that affected Native Americans, but this time there may be an opportunity that we had not earlier realized. In the past, when people asked us about our own family roots, we usually responded with Danish or English or German American, as other groups do. What if, when we are asked from now on, we say proudly "American" of Danish heritage (or Polish, Indian, Black, etc.) but, first and foremost, an AMERICAN. |
| Text by Gil Raben © 2012 |
| Consider the Good Old Days! or Global What? |
Climate change, carbon dioxide, pollution, or just bad weather . . . What are the facts? The Dakota Settler has a few ideas. Six or seven decades ago, you could easily see the railroad grade at Wall, SD, from Skyline Drive. You could climb Harney Peak or drive to the top of Terry Peak and enjoy the view into many surrounding states most of the time. At night, you could wonder at the Northern Lights and view the magnificent Milky Way from your own yard. Now there are changes. We, however, are still more fortunate than most. A short drive into our high country provides us with those pleasures again. In addition to our climate and beautiful seasons, we are further blessed with a large aquifer plus snow and rain for abundant clear water. Some pollution drifts in, but our location in the approximate center of North America protects us from the faster changes happening elsewhere on the planet. The facts? Things are changing!!!  Maybe man just needs to leave a smaller footprint on Gaia (Mother Earth). Think about it!
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| Text by Gil Raben © 2013 |
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Gil Raben - Owner Broker |
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| Contacts: |
realty@rapidcity.com Email |
| 1-605-342-7272 Local Phone |
| 1-800-888-1619 Toll Free 24/7 |
| Members: |
Black Hills & National Association of Realtors |
| Rapid City Chamber of Commerce |
| Raben Real Estate 401 3rd Street, Rapid City, SD 57701 |
| Mail: Raben Real Estate PO Box 1279 Rapid City, SD 57709 |
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401 - 3rd St.
Rapid City, SD 57701 |
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| Licensed in SD - Members: Black Hills and National Association of Realtors, Rapid City Multiple Listing Service, Rapid City Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Association |
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