In Black Hills, Badlands & Lakes Region, Custer is the seat of Custer County and is found southwest of Rapid City on US 385 at its junction with US 16 near the Wyoming state line. Custer is situated within the Black Hills National Forest.

The first town in the Black Hills, it was established in 1876, two years after Lt Col George A Custer camped nearby during his Black Hills expedition of 1874. Though still a lively mining, lumbering and tourist town, it holds a number of buildings from its earliest days.