The Corn Palace, commonly advertised as The World's Only Corn Palace and the Mitchell Corn Palace, is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in
Mitchell, South Dakota
Mitchell is a city in and the county seat of Davison County, South Dakota, Davison County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 15,660 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census making it the List of cities in South Dakota, sixth mos ...
, United States. The
Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centu ...
building is decorated with
crop art
Crop art is an environmental art practice using plants and seeds in the landscape to create statements, marks and/or images. Agnes Denes, Matthew Moore (artist), Dennis Oppenheim and Stan Herd are practitioners of Crop art. Some works of Land ar ...
; the murals and designs covering the building are made from
corn and other grains, and a new design is constructed each year. The Corn Palace is a popular tourist destination, visited by up to 500,000 people each year.
The Corn Palace serves the community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events. Each year, the Corn Palace is celebrated with a citywide festival, the Corn Palace Festival. Historically it was held at harvest time in September, but recently it has been held at the end of August. Other popular annual events include the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo in July and the Corn Palace Polka Festival in September. It is also home to the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers and the Mitchell High School Kernels basketball teams.
History
In the late 19th century, a number of cities on the Great Plains constructed "crop palaces" (also known as "grain palaces") to promote themselves and their products. As the idea succeeded, it spread, including: a Corn Palace in
Sioux City, Iowa
Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County ...
, that was active from 1887–1891; a Corn Palace in
Gregory, South Dakota
Gregory is a city in western Gregory County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,221 at the 2020 census.
History
Gregory was laid out in 1904. The city took its name from its location in Gregory County. A post office called Grego ...
; a Grain Palace in
Plankinton, South Dakota
Plankinton is a city in and county seat of Aurora County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 781 at the 2020 census.
History
Plankinton sprang up with the arrival of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad to the area ...
; and a Bluegrass Palace in
Creston, Iowa
Creston is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Iowa. The population was 7,536 at the time of the 2020 Census.
History
Creston was originally settled in 1868 as a survey camp for the Burlington and Missouri Railroad. It was name ...
. From 1887 to 1930, at least thirty-four corn palaces were built across the Midwest United States; only the Mitchell Corn Palace has remained intact.
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, constructed on land donated by Louis Beckwith, a member of the First Corn Palace Committee. In 1904–1905, the city of Mitchell mounted a challenge to the city of
Pierre
Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
in an unsuccessful attempt to replace it as the
state capital
Below is an index of pages containing lists of capital cities.
National capitals
*List of national capitals
* List of national capitals by latitude
*List of national capitals by population
* List of national capitals by area
* List of capital c ...
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
C. W. & George L. Rapp, commonly known as Rapp & Rapp, was an American architectural firm famed for the design of movie palaces and other theatres. Active from 1906 to 1965 and based in Chicago, the office designed over 400 theatres, inclu ...
of
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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.
Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
n-style
onion dome
An onion dome is a dome whose shape resembles an onion. Such domes are often larger in diameter than the tholobate upon which they sit, and their height usually exceeds their width. These bulbous structures taper smoothly to a point.
It is a typ ...
s and
Moorish minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the distinctive appearance that it has today.
In 2004, national media attention was drawn to the Corn Palace, when it received
Homeland Security
Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against terrorism and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" t ...
funding. This drew criticism of the
Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
and its
grant
Grant or Grants may refer to:
Places
*Grant County (disambiguation)
Australia
* Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia
United Kingdom
* Castle Grant
United States
* Grant, Alabama
* Grant, Inyo County, ...
program. In 2007, the Corn Palace subsequently received $25,000 in DHS funding for a camera system useful for purposes including Barack Obama's visit in 2008, and as reported by the ''
Mitchell Daily Republic
The ''Mitchell Daily Republic'' is a daily newspaper published in Mitchell, South Dakota. The paper's circulation is reported to be 9,859 and primarily serves Davison County, South Dakota. It was founded in 1934 and is currently owned by the ...
'', to protect a "new Fiberglass statue of the Corn Palace mascot Cornelius" in 2009. This statue sits across Main Street, west of the Corn Palace.
The Palace's domes were renovated in 2015 after shaking in strong winds.
The new turrets are made of
architectural metals
Metals used for architectural purposes include lead, for water pipes, roofing, and windows; tin, formed into tinplate; zinc, copper and aluminium, in a range of applications including roofing and decoration; and iron, which has structural and ...
.
Mural construction
The exterior corn murals are replaced and redesigned each year with a new theme, with designs created by local artists. From 1948 to 1971, the artist
Oscar Howe
Oscar Howe (''Mazuha Hokshina'' or "Trader Boy", May 13, 1915 – October 7, 1983) was a Yanktonai Dakota artist from South Dakota, who became well known for his casein and tempera paintings.Libhart, Myles and Vincent Price. ''Contemporary Sioux ...
designed the panels. Calvin Schultz designed the murals from 1977 to 2002. From 2003 to 2017, the murals have been designed by Cherie Ramsdell.
No new mural was created in 2006
due to an extreme drought. Beginning in 2018, designs have been created by Dakota Wesleyan University students.
As of 2018, it costs an estimated $175,000 each time the Palace is redecorated.
Twelve naturally occurring shades of corn are grown by local farmers to create the artwork.
Artists' drawings are transferred to black tar paper labeled with codes corresponding to colors, providing a "corn-by-numbers" pattern showing where each colored cob should be nailed.
Corn cobs are split in two lengthwise and nailed to the exterior of the building, using approximately 1.5 million nails and 325,000 ears of corn.
Designs
Image:Mitchell Corn Palace Front 1964.JPG, 1964 - South Dakota Scenes
Image:Mitchell corn palace.jpg, 2000 - Millennium Corn
Image:2003-08-15 Mitchell Corn Palace.jpg, 2003 - Scenic South Dakota
File:Corn Palace 2004.jpg, 2004 - Lewis & Clark
File:Mitchell Corn Palace 2005.jpg, 2005 - Life on the Farm
File:CornPalace2008.jpg, 2008 - Everyday Heroes
File:Corn Palace 2011.jpg, 2011 - American Pride
File:Corn Palace 2016.jpg, 2016 - Rock of Ages
File:Corn Palace 2020.jpg, 2020 - South Dakota Home Grown
Bibliography
*
*
*
* Mitchell Chamber of Commerce. ''A Year by Year History Of ... The World's Only Corn Palace''. 5th ed. Mitchell, SD: Educator Supply Company, 1957.
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Corn Palace Convention & Visitors BureauCorn Palace FestivalCorn Palace Stampede RodeoCorn Palace Fan Site
{{Authority control
Maize
Mitchell, South Dakota
Landmarks in South Dakota
Tourism in South Dakota
Roadside attractions in South Dakota
Novelty buildings in South Dakota
Music venues completed in 1892
Infrastructure completed in 1892
Music venues completed in 1921
Infrastructure completed in 1921
Moorish Revival architecture in South Dakota
Buildings and structures in Davison County, South Dakota
Tourist attractions in Davison County, South Dakota
1892 establishments in South Dakota
Sports venues completed in 1892
Basketball venues in South Dakota
College basketball venues in the United States
South Dakota culture