
If you will be traveling anywhere near Mitchell, South Dakota in July/August, you might want to take the time to stop in. Every summer, after the corn harvest, they take dried corn cobs (with the corn kernels still on!) and create a wonderful mural on the outside of the Corn palace, covering the entire building. Every year the mural is different.
The original Mitchell Corn Palace (known as "The Corn Belt Exposition") was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area. It was a wooden castle structure on Mitchell's Main Street. In 1904–1905, the city of Mitchell mounted a challenge to the city of Pierre in an unsuccessful attempt to replace it as the state capital of South Dakota. As part of this effort, the Corn Palace was rebuilt in 1905. In 1921 the Corn Palace was rebuilt once again, with a design by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp of Chicago. Moorish domes and minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the distinct appearance that it has today.
The exterior corn murals are replaced and redesigned each year with a new theme. The designs are created by local artists. From 1948–1971 the artist Oscar Howe designed the panels. Calvin Schultz designed the murals from 1977–2002. Since 2003, the murals have been designed by Cherie Ramsdell. No new mural was created in 2006 due to an extreme drought.
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