Corn Palace

The natural grandeur of the Badlands and the Black Hills is not the only thing we saw on our trip to South Dakota.

In Mitchell, South Dakota is a building/arena/convention
center that is nationally or even world-famous. It doesn't have the reputation, the beauty, or the age of the Parthenon, the Colluseum, Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal, the Great Pyramid, the Empire State Building, Buckingham Palace, Madison Square Garden, etc.

What does it have? Artistry. Charm. Imagination. Pride. Determination. Its own brand of tourist draw. Every year, a committee of some of the good folks from Mitchell decorate the building in a corn motif. Ears of corn, cobs, stalks, and kernals are incorporated into the customized exterior. Sort of like the floats at the Rose Bowl Parade. It's never the same thing twice. Plays, conventions, exhibitions, and local sports take place there.

It requires a $100,000 yearly budget and lots of planning, effort, and love. It's not European, Classical Greek, or Asiatic. It's pure midwestern Americana.