Cathedral Drive, Rapid City, South Dakota, USA
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
The cathedral of the Diocese of Rapid City, a mid-century modern church in the Black Hills of South Dakota that serves a vast, sparsely populated diocese including several Native American reservations.
Rapid City's cathedral is a 1963 building on Cathedral Drive, designed in a clean mid-century modern style — low-slung, with a sweeping roofline, wide glass panels, and fieldstone walls that echo the rocky Black Hills landscape. The interior is spacious and light-filled, with an open sanctuary, a large crucifix, and artwork that reflects both Western and Lakota influences. The Diocese of Rapid City covers the western half of South Dakota, including Pine Ridge, Rosebud, and other Lakota reservations where Jesuit and Franciscan missionaries established some of the earliest Catholic presences on the northern plains. The cathedral serves as a meeting point for white ranching communities and Native American Catholics alike.
Diocese: Diocese of Rapid City
Style: Mid-Century Modern
What to See
The fieldstone walls tie the building to the Black Hills in a way that a brick or stone church would not. The interior is bright and open. Look for the artwork that blends Catholic and Lakota imagery — it reflects the real life of this diocese. The sweeping roofline is distinctive from outside.
Pilgrim Notes
Rapid City is the gateway to Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, and the Black Hills. The cathedral is on the west side of the city. If time allows, the Pine Ridge reservation south of the Badlands has several historic mission churches worth visiting.