Things to Know: World’s Only Corn Palace
The Corn Palace is a folk art wonder that attracts thousands of visitors each year and is a standard road stop for every traveler driving from Rapid City to Sioux Falls. Built in 1892, this state highlight has been attracting visitors and offering new themes each year. When we started planning our trip across South Dakota, we knew we would be making a stop to enjoy this destination!
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Things to Know: World’s Only Corn Palace
Each year the Corn Palace is stripped and redecorated with new corn and grain. Approximately 325,000 ears of corn are sawed in half lengthwise and nailed to the building following the patterns created by local artist.
When you step out on the balcony overlooking Mitchell’s Historic Main Street. Make sure you wave at the camera across the street and then text your friends so they can see you “live” on the corn-cam!
Corn Palace Auditorium
The auditorium houses permanent corn murals showing various scenes of life in South Dakota. There is even a Mount Rushmore picture made entirely out of corn!
The auditorium serves as the basketball home for the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers as well as the Mitchel High School Kernels. You can even attend 3-ring circus or indoor bull riding events throughout the year in the auditorium.
The World’s Only Corn Palace is Mitchell’s premier tourist attraction. 500,000 tourists come from around the nation each year to see the uniquely designed corn murals. The city’s first Corn Palace was built as a way to prove to the world that South Dakota had a healthy agricultural climate.
Eight years before the turn of the 20th century -1892- when Mitchell, South Dakota was a small, 12-year-old city of 3,000 inhabitants – the WORLD’S ONLY CORN PALACE was established on the city’s Main Street. During its over 100 years of existence, it has become known worldwide and now attracts more than a half a million visitors annually.
World’s Only Corn Palace
Things to Know:
- There is no admission fee to visit the Corn Palace.
- There are steps or an elevator to go to the 2nd floor and balcony.
- Plan about an hour to visit the Corn Palace.
- There is a snack bar available at the Palace.
Where to find:
604 N Main Street
Mitchell, SD 57301
