Rapid City is home to South Dakota's most haunted place

With Halloween approaching, Rapid City is home to South Dakota's most haunted place in HauntBound's 2026 index. The index ranks 25 South Dakota sites by separate published accounts and how far back they go, not by fame or search popularity.

Hotel Alex Johnson ranks #1, and its six separate published accounts are the most of any South Dakota site. Alex Carlton Johnson opened the Art Deco hotel on July 1, 1928, and ran it until his death in 1938. Staff and guests describe his apparition still moving through the hallways, seemingly checking on operations, and phantom piano music, 1920s-era tunes, drifting from the lobby when no one is at the keys.

Statewide, Historic Bullock Hotel in Deadwood, the state's most famous haunted site, ranks #2.

"We rank by evidence, not legend: independent published accounts, documented history, and how far back the reports go. We don't claim ghosts are real, or that they aren't. We document where the reports concentrate, and we show our work," said Ben Fineman, editor of HauntBound. The ranking shows each site's documented record.

Visiting:Hotel Alex Johnson, 523 6th Street, Rapid City, is a working hotel with rooms from $120 to $300 a night depending on season, and its public areas, including the lobby, are open for self-guided viewing.

For media:The full ranking: https://hauntbound.com/most-haunted/south-dakota/The fact sheet, with Rapid City numbers and cleared images: https://hauntbound.com/press/fact-sheets/south-dakota/Photo: Hotel Alex Johnson, on the fact sheet.Venue contact: alexjohnson.comA short version follows.

HauntBound (hauntbound.com) is a family-friendly field guide to more than 6,000 documented haunted and historic places across the United States, ranked by published evidence rather than legend. No venue pays to be listed or ranked.

Media contact: Ben Fineman, Editor, HauntBound, editor@hauntbound.com

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