Was Rapid City’s M Hill the first of its kind in the United States?

The iconic M Hill has showcased South Dakota Mines in Rapid City for more than 100 years, but it’s not the first large letter to be displayed prominently in a college town.

The tradition began in 1905 when University of California, Berkeley students constructed a big “C” on a hill overlooking campus. Fifty years later, University of California, Riverside students made their own.

Other schools with the tradition include an “M” at the Colorado School of Mines and University of Wisconsin-Platteville, a “Y” at Brigham Young University in Utah and an “A” for when Colorado State University’s nickname was the Aggies.

Rapid City’s M was built in 1912 by faculty and  students who used  more than 100 wagonloads of rock. Ten years later, it was replaced with concrete. The “S” and “D” were added in 1953. Students hike up the hill during homecoming  to clean the “M”.