The Corn Palace

Today is a long drive so we're off before the sun comes up. So we're travelling by moon light. We're leaving Minnesota and heading to South Dakota. The drive today was very windy (why is it always a head wind?).

We arrived without problem at our rest stop in Mitchell, South Dakota. Pull thru site, full hookups and internet, our little slice of heaven.

Now, if you were a world traveler like us, you would know that Mitchell SD is the home of the only Corn Palace in the world. Not the largest or the most spectacular, the ONLY!. How could one pass such an opportunity by?

The original corn palace was built in 1892 to showcase the bountiful crops in the region. Farmers started displaying samples of their crops on the exterior of the building and it has grown from there. 

The outside of the huge building is completely covered with corn and grains. Each mural is designed by local artists and then a template is attached to which the corn is nailed. The murals are displayed for a year then removed and replaced with new ones.

This mural is in progress and you can see the pattern behind the corn.

This is a finished mural. You can see the individual corn cobs in the picture. Look 2 pictures back to see how good this looks from a distance (extreme right mural).

Boxes of different coloured corn arrive at the work area. Each colour is grown in a remote field to prevent cross pollination and dilution of the unique colours. 

Then each cob is cut lengthwise and to a specified length. Over 275 thousand cobs are nailed to the building to form all the different murals. 

The parts of the building that are not murals and not covered with corn are covered with tied bundles of rye, oats and sour dock. Over 3,000 bushels of grains complete the wall coverings.

The building is used all the time with local sports and community activities as well a graduations and weddings. 

The interior of the sports area is surrounded by corn murals as well. These aren't changed every year like the outside is. On the right, outside frame is a huge theatre seating area and big name entertainers have played here over the years. Just last week, Willie Nelson was here. USA Today called the basketball court "the Boston Garden of the Midwest". 

This is one of the interior murals. No paint is used, all shades are natural corn colours.

Now you have to admit that we go out of our way to bring new and unique items to our blog. I'll bet you've never heard of the Corn Palace and now you're an expert. Amaze you friends. No thanks necessary, it's all part of the service we provide.