Corn Palace

In The Moment … October 19, 2020 Show 923 Hour 2

The rich history of the Corn Palace in Mitchell goes back to 1892 when South Dakota as a state was just three years old. The world's only building covered with murals made of corn and grasses continues to draw half a million tourists annually and still serves as Mitchell's home town event center. On today's "Images of the Past," we'll look back at the history of the building that really is the World's only Corn Palace. Joining us now is Troy Magnuson, the manager of the Corn Palace gift shop and one of the Corn Palace tour guides.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell has been home to countless great basketball moments over the decades. Another may have begun this past weekend. SDPB Sports and Rec reporter Nate Wek was at the new basketball classic organized by Sacred Hoops.

Sports and Recreation reporting is supported by Horton Incorporated of Britton South Dakota

Guest host Cara Hetland welcomed Seth Tupper of the Rapid City Journal and Jon Hunter of the Madison Daily Leader to talk politics.  Topics included a proposal for a ballot measure that would create a publicly-funded campaign finance program, the Pope's visit to the United States and the "revolving door" at the Corn Palace with respect to the director's position.

The three new domes are up at the Mitchell Corn Palace. The new, onion-shaped domes were installed last Monday. The domes, along with new decorative turrets, are part of a $7.2 million renovation of the iconic South Dakota landmark.

When Mitchell’s first Corn Palace was built in 1892, it was only one of at least 34 grain palaces in the Midwest from the 1880s to the 1930s. The current Mitchell Corn Palace was built in 1921 and it’s the only one of the “prairie palaces” that’s survived. The familiar Moorish-style minarets and turrets were added to the building’s roof in 1937 to recreate the look of the earlier corn palaces.

When farmers first arrived in Dakota Territory, they assumed the growing season was too short for corn and it was planted as a sod crop. But an agronomist writing in a 1909 report said that men who once scoffed are now buying South Dakota farms on which they expect to grow corn. That year, farmers in the state planted over two million acres of corn with a harvest of 65 million bushels.

The Corn Palace in Mitchell is preparing for its annual festival. This years festival has a performance from a Las Vegas entertainer.

Terry Fator is a ventriloquist, singer, comedian and impressionist who has a show at the Mirage in Las Vegas. In 2007, Fator won America's Got Talent which rewarded him with his very own show in Americas Sin City. Friday, Terry Fator brings his show to the Mitchell Corn Palace. Corn Palace Director Mark Shilling says having a show like this in South Dakota is a rare treat.