A June 2001 trip to South Dakota by noelle_1
Quote: The Corn Palace is campy Americana in the middle of the great plains. Is it worth driving out of your way for?
Attraction | "The Corn Palace"
The Corn Palace (CP) is truly something to behold. It is the centerpiece of this small Midwestern town. The CP is a large building that is decorated every year with corn cobs of different colors and sizes to create murals. And these murals are fantastic. Originally the settlers used to put some of their harvests on the walls to show how fertile the SD soil was. There was a presidential theme the year I went, but the theme is different from year to year. It was surprisingly pretty and quite grand owing to its huge size. Once inside you can see a bit about the history of the CP and shop to your heart's delight in their well outfitted gift shop. The CP also serves as a multipurpose center for the town, so there are meetings and conventions there on occasion.
The CP itself is not terribly far from I-90, so if you find yourself there (perhaps en route to the Badlands) I think it is worth a stop. Mitchell itself is a small town (about 15,000 people) and I found them to be warm and helpful. There are a few cafes and restaurants just down the street from the CP where I got a satisfactory lunch.
SD has very cold winters and late Springs, so the best time to go is mid summer or mid Fall. Be careful, because the snow can come as early as September! In late summer it will be humid and hot, but more bearable than the winter.
Member Rating 3 out of 5 on May 17, 2003
Corn Palace 612 North Main Street Mitchell, South Dakota 57301 (605) 996-6223
noelle_1 Midlleton, Wisconsin
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