Where the Saints Meet

                                               1529 West Boulevard North

Rapid City, South Dakota 57701

     The Rapid City congregation is believed to be the first congregation of the churches of Christ established in the state of South Dakota.  It began meeting in March of 1949 when six to eight Air Force members from Ellsworth AFB started meeting at the Ellsworth AFB Hospital and the Base School.  

The congregation began meeting in Rapid City in the fall of 1950.  Services were held in a rented room at the Modern Woodsmen Hall, located on First and Kansas City Streets. 

In 1951 land was purchased at Sixth and Flormann Street in preparation for construction of a meeting place. 

The first building was completed by 1956. A concrete block building was erected and it served the congregation well.  Soon growth dictated a move to a larger facility.   

    The next meeting location was a building built for a denomination and was located at the corner of 5th Street and St. Patrick Street.  This served as a meeting place for several years.  

    There were no other congregations in the area at that time.  Charles Freeman, a minister here during the early years, relates how the members worked hard to establish congregations in the area.   Members of the church drove many miles to help establish area congregations.  They would drive many miles to preach and conduct worship services in the cities of Hot Springs, Faith, Sturgis, and Spearfish.  

    The congregation made the decision  to build a larger structure that would meet their needs for assembly and Bible study.  The site chosen was at 1529 West Boulevard, North, just south of  the intersection of Interstate I-190 and Interstate I-90.  Construction was completed on a brick building and the first assembly took place in July 1969.  It still serves us well as the present meeting place.