4a
8 1938
W1rawv
AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES
\"<i A. W r i"V*v T
TO PROSPECTIVE VISITORS AND BUSINESSMEN:
JV/HTCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA, is a growing city, and each year
it is becoming a more important Industrial and Distributional
Center. It is a pleasant place in whieh to live, has modern public
institutions, and ample recreational facilities. An unlimited water
supply, excellent transportation facilities, and low power rates have
brought a number of new industries to Mitchell in recent years. Your
inquiries are invited.
The Chamber of Commerce, 203 West First Avenue, is at all
times eager and able to give every assistance to industries already
established in Mitchell and those considering Mitchell as a prospec¬
tive location. The Chamber also maintains a Tourist Information
Bureau and the Mitchell Traffic Bureau with a rate expert. Since
1907, the Chamber has been the medium through which Mitchell
exerts a unified force for the advancement of business and civic
projects.
This booklet, "Mitchell, an Industrial Survey and Recreational
Guide," is a Federal Government publication prepared by the Fed¬
eral Writers' Project and sponsored by the Mitchell Chamber of
Commerce. It is not a booster booklet, but a faetual and impartial
description of Mitchell.
BRADLEY YOUNG, President
Chamber of Commerce
Officers and Directors, 1938
J. J. VERSCHOOR
Vice President
DYER H. CAMPBELL
Secretary-Treasurer
Whittier Bauer
J. C. Elliott
A. J. Harmon
C. C. Miller
M. F. Patton
Geo. B. Phifer
Frank Purdy
L. P. Vermilyea
Frank Winner
ERICAN
GUIDE
SERIES
MITCHELL
SOUTH DAKOTA
An Industrial and Recreational Guide
I|m— UU— U
Compiled by the
Federal Writers' Project
Works Progress Administration
Mitchell, S. D.
Sponsored by the
MITCHELL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
1938
FOREWORD
MITCHELL, AN INDUSTRIAL AND RECREATIONAL
GUIDE is one of the publications written by members of the Feder¬
al Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. Designed
primarily to give useful employment to needy unemployed writers
and research workers, this project has utilized their experience and
abilities in the preparation for the American people of a portrait of
America—its history, folklore, scenery, cultural backgrounds, social
and economic trends, and racial factors.
Many books and brochures are being written for the American
Guide Series. As they appear in increasing numbers, we hope the
public will come to appreciate more fully not only the unusual scope
of this undertaking, but also the devotion shown by the workers—
from the humblest field worker to the most accomplished editor en¬
gaged in the final critical revision of the manuscript.
HARRY L. HOPKINS,
Administrator
ii ii
WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
HARRY L. HOPKINS, Administrator
ELLEN S. WOODWARD, Assistant Administrator
HENRY G. ALSBERG, Director of Federal Writers' Project
PREFACE
When Mitchell had a population of nine, its first news¬
paper appeared bearing an expression of hope by the editor
that the town would some day be "more than a wart on the
prairie." That was in 1879, and in 1938 the Federal Writers'
Project presents in this guide book a glimpse of the town's de¬
velopment and a picture of contemporary Mitchell.
For helpful information given, acknowledgement is hereby
extended to Thomas Eastcott, A. J. Curtis, Lora Crouch, J. C.
Lindsey, Tom Scallin, Whittier Bauer, and the editors of "The
Daily Republic" and "The Mitchell Gazette."
We are especially grateful to the Chamber of Commerce
for making the booklet possible, and to Dyer H. Campbell,
secretary, for critical reading of the manuscript.
THE EDITORS,
n^—ii
COPYRIGHT, 1938, BY
CHAMBER OF COMMERCE,
MITCHELL, SOUTH DAKOTA
CONTENTS
Foreword 2
Preface 3
General Information 5
Mitchell Today 7
History - 3
Government 10
Public Services — 11
The Industrial Scene - 12
Education 15
Recreation and Amusements 18
Points of Interest
1. Com Palace 19
2. The Armory 21
3. Dakota Wesleyan University 22
4. Davison County Court House 24
5. City Hall 24
6. Carnegie Library 24
7. City Museum 25
8. Holy Family Church 25
9. Methodist Church - 26
10. St. Joseph's Hospital 26
11. Methodist State Hospital 26
12. Hitchcock Park 28
13. Lake Mitchell ..... 28
14. Indian Village - 29
15. Natural Amphitheater 30
16. Graceland Cemetery 31
17. Lakeview Municipal Golf Course 31
18. The Country Club 32
19. Pioneer Trails Monument 32
ILLUSTRATIONS
Corn Palace 6
Hersoy Photo Service
Main Street 6
Mitchell and Trade Vicinity 13
City Hall ... 16
Don Seburn
Airview of Business District 16 & 17
M. B. Ronald
Lake Mitchell 17
Municipal Golf Course 27
Court House 27
Kliuson Studio
Map of Lake Mitchell 29
Sada Jones
GENERAL INFORMATION
Highways: US 16 east and west; State 37 north and south.
Railroad Stations: Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific
R. R., south end of Main Street: Chicago and Northwestern
R. R., Main Street and Eighth Avenue.
Bus Station: Red Ball, Custer Highway, Interlake, Palace City
and Intercity Lines, Union depot, 114 S. Main St.
Airport: No scheduled service, municipal airport 3 miles north
on State 37.
Taxis: 25c upward.
Traffic Regulations: No double parking, and parking limita¬
tions where marked'. Parking Spaces: Free parking spaces
N. Main St., and Fourth Ave. W.; 200 block E. Second Ave.
Tourist Information Service. Chamber of Commerce, 203 First
Ave. W.
Accommodations: Throe first-class hotels; five modern' tourist
cabin camps; numerous rooming houses and tourist homes.
Theatres and Motion Picture Houses: Local productions and
road shows at Corn Palace; three motion picture houses.
Athletic Fields. Municipal field, lighted for night baseball
games, E. Ninth Ave., and Davison St.; high school field ad¬
joining on the north,
Golf: Lakeview Municipal Course, Lake Mitchell, 25c green
fees; Country Club, 1% m. E. on US 16, admission by invi¬
tation.
Swimming: Lake Mitchell; Dakota Wesley an pool by arrange¬
ment.
Tennis: Five clay tennis courts open to public at Hitchcock
Park, in southeastern section of city.
Annual Events: State High School Basketball Tournament,
March (rotative); Dakota Wesleyan Water Carnival, latter
part of May; Mitchell Garden Club Flower Show, early in June;
Retail Merchants Invitational Golf Tournament, late summer;
Corn Palace Festival, last week in September; High School
Homecoming Day, October; Dakota Wesleyan Blue and White
Day Homecoming Celebration, October.
5
MX WUte.
CORN PALACE
MAIN STREET
MITCHELL TODAY
Mitchell, third largest city in South Dakota, is the com¬
mercial and social center of a highly developed f"rming region.
To celebrate the climax of each harvest season, a Corn Palace
Festival is held the Last week of September and thousands of
people from all over the State come to see the agricultural ex¬
hibits and stage attractions in the large Corn Palace which is
bedecked with grain, corn, and colors. (For a description and
history of the Corn Palace see POINT'S OF INTEREST.)
Plowed fields and meadows roll to the edges of the city,
merging with small houses and shoulder-high trees of new resi¬
dential additions. Older residential sections, with large elm
and Cottonwood trees shading the paved streets, surround the
business center. The shopping district includes six blocks of
Main Street, between the Corn Palace and the Milwaukee sta¬
tion, and a block each way on the side streets. Just beyond
the Corn Palace, Main Street was formerly crossed by the old
Government Trail between Yankton and the Black Hills. The
architecture of the booming nineties predominates, but since
1930 a number of new stores and public buildings have shown
more modern trends, so that today the city presents a picture
of all stages of its growth and development. The Federal
census of 1920 reported the city's population at 8,478, and in
1930 it had jumped to 10,478. The State census of 1935 listed
12,834 residents, and the 1938 estimate made by a city directory
was 13,000. The regular population is swelled each year by
students who attend Dakota Wesleyan University, Notre Dame
Academy, and a business college. The State offices of the
Works Progress Administration were moved to Mitchell in
1937, bringing 136 employees.
Mitchell is the seat of Davison County, and in 1936 a
new, modern-styled $235,000 courthouse was erected. The
Mitchell trade area extends far beyond the county boundaries
toward Sioux Falls to the east, Huron to the north, Winner to
the west, and Nebraska to the south. In addition to being a
retail and wholesale trade center, several industries have been
developed—meat and poultry packing, livestock and grain
shipping, and butter and cheese making. The shipment of
tons of frozen eggs to Eastern markets annually is one phase
of its business activity in the center of a diversified agricul¬
tural and stock raising area.
Two railroad lines, the Milwaukee (C. M. St. P. & P.) and
the North Western (C. & N. W.) operate nine passenger
trains and several freight trains daily in all four directions.
The Milwaukee also operates a freight office, roundhouse,
yard office, and stockyards. Three bus lines also serve Mit-
7
chell. The city owns and operates an airport and hangar
three miles north of Mitchell. The hard-surfacing of US
16 across the State through Mitchell has brought increased
tourist traffic, together with improved farm-to-marbet oper¬
ations.
Mitchell was one of the first Midwestern cities to create a
large artificial lake to supply the city with water and to meet
the demands for recreation—swimming, fishing, boating, pic¬
nicking, and ice skating. These attractions together with the
city's wide, shaded streets, its four well kapt parks', its modern
school buildings, its Carnegie Library, its up-to-date hospitals,
and its many churches all combine to account in some measure
for the steady growth that has characterized' Mitchell from the
very beginning.
HISTORY
Beginning in 1874 a little .settlement grew up on the river
bottoms near the junction of Fires teel Creek with the James
River. Five years later an engineer surveying the proposed
route of the Milwaukee Railroad, visited the little town of Fire-
steal and, finding a piece of driftwood high up on. the bluff,
remarked "This will never do. for a town. Where water has
once been, it may come again." So he indicated a spot three
miles west on .a high and fertile plain. Here, at a cost of ten
dollars, a townsite covering seventy-five acres, was platted
and was named in honor of Alexander Mitchell, then president
of the Milwaukee system. One by one the business houses
and residences of Firesteel were hauled overland to the new
townsite; and two years later the James in full flood, justified
the fears of the engineer, swept away the last vestiges of the
earlier .settlement.
The Firesteel community had no choice but to move. In
those early days .and that thinly settled country, for a railroad
to miss a town by three or four miles was the equivalent of a
death sentence. Their lots in Firesteel had cost them nothing,
the owner of the land having given a lot free to anyone who
would build. At Mitchell they were obliged to purchase their
lots from the owner of the townsite; but the prices were mot
high, and the increased business which the railroad brought
fully compensated them for the cost of moving.
The first building to be moved to the site of the new town
was a 12x116 frame structure which later housed the posit office
and newspaper plant, and the first edition of the Mitchell
"Weekly Capitol" was issued September 18, 1879, in a town
with a total of nine inhabitants. One of the earliest merchants
to move sold groceries from a covered wagon on the new town-
site until his establishment could be erected. Firesteel's
8
hotel, the Lowell House, was among the buildings moved and
another hotel, the Sanborn, was erected in addition.
In the late spring of 1880 the first train pulled into Mit¬
chell on the Milwaukee Railroad, and in September the United
States Land Office was transferred from Sioux Falls toi Mit¬
chell. This important office served ten counties, reaching as
far as the Missouri River on the west and a considerable dis¬
tance north. Everyone who wished to file or prove up on a
claim in this wide territory was obliged to visit the office
personally, bringing much business to the new town. In ad¬
dition, the office was manned by a large staff of college-train¬
ed men who added a cultural element not usually found in a
frontier town. But in spite of all these aids, at the first an¬
niversary of its founding all the business section could be ac¬
commodated in one square block, and the year-old town had a
papulation of 320.
The winter of 1880-81 was a difficult one for Mitchell.
For sixteen weeks the town was without rail communication,
on account of the continued storms and deep snow. What
supplies and mail reached it had to be brought in by stage.
One Sunday morning at a church service held in a hall over a
saloon, with the congregation sitting on planks and beer kegs,
a man strolled in reading a letter. One by one- the congrega¬
tion slipped out until there was only one auditor left, a woman.
She wasn't expecting any mail. The supply of newsprint ran
out and the demand for news was so great that the local paper
was printed first an wrapping paper, then, when that was
gone, on wall paper, and finally on white cotton cloth.
In 1881 the town was incorporated under a board of trus¬
tees. A hotel, the Alexander Mitchell, with a corner frontage
of 92 and 118 feet, was erected at a cost of $30,000. By
January first of the following year all the Government land
for 50 miles around had been taken up. New buildings erect¬
ed in 1882 exceeded half a million dollars in value. The erec¬
tion of the first courthouse, a brick structure, was begun.
The first bank in Mitchell was founded in 1880 by B. F.
Goodykoontz and the first piano was imported that same year
by his wife. The first church, Presbyterian, was organized in
1881. The first funeral, that of a colored porter in a saloon,
took place in 1880 and burial was in a nearby school section.
The first opera house was erected in 1881 at the corner of
Railroad and Main .Streets.
In 1883 the towns mercantile business amounted to more
than a million dollars, and the population was 1,000. The
courthouse was completed at a east of $20,000. Twenty-five
additional business buildings and 200 residences were erected.
The first election was held and C. S. Burr was elected first
mayor, to be assisted by a board of aldermen. In 1884 a
roundhouse and machine shop were erected, and the workers
9
added another 100 to the population. In that year Mitchell
contained five livery stables, four lumber yards, three grain
houses, two feed mills, a flour mill, an elevator, a brick manu¬
facturing plant, and a stonecutter's yard. In 1885 Dakota
Wesleyan University was founded. The town continued to
grow rapidly in population, having 2,000 in 1888, 2,'217 in
1890 and more than 4,000 ten years later. The next fifteen
years saw a steady and substantial growth, with 5,719 in 1905,
6,5115 in 1910, and 7,785 in 1915.
The first Com Palace was erected in 1892 with a Moorish
style of architecture. In 19*21 the nresent Corn Palace was
erected at a cost of $300,000. In 1933 bonds were issued for
a new courthouse and in 1936 it was completed.
In addition to being tbe county seat, Mitchell is an im¬
portant railroad center and an university town'; maintains sev¬
eral industries, emterta/ins many conventions annually, and is
host to the entire State during the Corn Palace festival, the
last week in September. But the solid and' enduring basis of
its prosperity is the proven fertility and productiveness of the
large agricultural region for which it is the commercial center
and distributing point.
GOVERNMENT
When Mitchell was incorporated in 1881, a board of trus¬
tees was organized to conduct the affairs of the city. The
five-ma,n volunteer board had the town platted six blocks
square, passed an ordinance to keep peace and, old records
show, gave a liveryman permission to dig a diteh to drain his
stable. As the town bad no funds, eight street lights were
purchased by subscription. In 1883 the trustees, desiring to
be relieved of their responsibilities in the fast-growng town,
called an election at whieh a mayor and aldermen were select¬
ed. As the city grew, demands were made upon the city gov¬
ernment for public improvements and additional services.
Drainage ditches were supplanted by 40 miles of sewers, and in
1927 a $130,000 disposal plant was constructed; the kerosene
street lamps have been replaced by electric lights. Mitchell
has retained the aldermanic foirm of government, adding three
boards—park, library, and zoning, the last of which has juris¬
diction over the construction of buildings in the city.
Between 1927 and 1937 bonds were issued for water works
improvements, sewers, remodeling of the city hall, and an audi¬
torium. Costs of public improvements since 1933 have been
shared by the Federal Government. In 1938 the city's indebt¬
edness was $784,752. The assessed valuation was $10,543,189.
Municipal revenues for 1937 amounted to $562,436 and ex¬
penditures $294,751, leaving a balance January 1, 1938, of
$267,685.
10
PUBLIC SERVICES
Police. Law and order are maintained by a well-organized
police department of 12 officers and a matron. During the
annual Corn Palace festival several additional patrolmen are
added. Equipment of the police department, which has its
headquarters in the City Hall, includes a police car with a
public address system, chief's oar, machine guns, rifles and
pistols, bear gas guns and bombs, and a finger printing
apparatus.
Fire. The Mitchell fire department, 201 W. First Avenue,
has five trucks, five full-time firemen and 29 volunteers. Four
of the trucks are for use within the city limits and the fifth,
constructed by the firemen, is used for rural calls. The de¬
partment has equipped one truck with a smoke extractor, to
remove poisonous fumes from buildngs on fire.
Sanitation. Mitchell's siewer system totals 42 miles, and
leads to a modern sewage disposal plant, built in 1934 with
the aid of the Federal Government at a cost of $130,000. The
plant is in a valley two miles southeast of the city.
Water. Mitchell owns and operates an extensive water
system. The chief source of the city's water supply is Lake
Mitchell, and 42 miles of mains convey the water from the
lake to the consumers. Equipment is sufficient for pumping
3,000 gallons per minute from the lake. There are also five
.emergiency wells, two of which are equipped with pumps hav¬
ing a capacity of 1,100 gallons a minute. These wells, the
water of which is slightly hard, are used only when there is a
shortage of water in the lake. A reservoir with a capacity
of 750,000 gallons, and two 350,000-gallo.n elevated tanks store
water and provide pressure for local use. The municipal
plant is valued at $700,000.
Water is furnished at a flat rate of $1.50 per quarter for
300 cubic feet. This is little more than a service chai-ge,
since the city furnishes and maintains the meters. Excess
water is charged for on a sliding scale, ranging from 20 cents
per hundred for the first 500 cubic feet down to five cents per
hundred for water in excess of 300,000 cubic feet. The total
hardness in untreated water is 18 grains per gallon, and 13
grains in the treated. Purification is by treatment with lime,
sodium aluminate, and chlorine.
Electricity. The Northwestern Public Service Company
supplies electric power for domestic and commercial use. The
steam-operated plant, at the south end of Gamble Street, con¬
sumes 100 tons of coal every 24 hours, and is the largest elec¬
tric generating plant in the State. Its capacity is 12,000
kilowatts.
11
Gas. Manufactured gas for heating and cooking is supplied
by the Northwestern Public Service Gotmpany from its tanks in
operation in connection with thie electrical plant. Only one-
third of the ,g,as plant capacity was being consumed in 1938.
Telephone and Telegraph. The Dakota Central Telephone
Company, a subsidiary of Northwestern Bell, 113 E. Third
Avenue, bad 2,689 phones on its list March 1, 1998. An addi¬
tional building, with improved equipment, will be ready for oc¬
cupancy in the fall of 1938.
The Western Union, 108' W. First Avenue, has had a tele¬
graph office in Mitchell since 1883, and the 90-cent rate to
New York City is one-fifth what it was when the office was
opened in Mitchell.
Postal Service. The Mitchell Post Office, corner of Lawlar
St. and E. Fourth Avenue, has six regular city carriers serv¬
ing 5,074 homes, and four rural routes. Stamp sales in 1937
totaled $91,428.
THE INDUSTRIAL SCENE
Mitchell is the industrial and distribution center for a
large trade area in south central South Dakota. The basic
industry is the processing of livestock and agricultural pro¬
ducts—meat and poultry packing, and butter and cheese mak¬
ing. The buying, storing, and shipping of grain, feed, seed,
hogs, cattle, sheep, poultry, eggs, wool, and bides from the sur¬
rounding diversified farming region provide important sources
of revenue.
The Northwest's largest commission companies have
branch offices and representatives in Mitchell. A locally
owned meat packing plant employs 30 people throughout the
year and has an annual pay roll .of §40,000. With a capacity
production, under present conditions, of 100 hogs and 30 cattle
during a nine-hour period, the total annual sales volume ex¬
ceeds §2,000,000. The raising of hogs has become such a
profitable business that an abattoir with a capacity of 600 hogs
a day has been built in Mitchell. Among the varied industries
is a soft drink company that has an annual pay roll of $40,000,
and a produce company that ships carloads of frozen eggs each
year to Eastern markets. In 1937 a wholesale seed house ex¬
ported 250,000 pounds of alfalfa and 378,000 bushels of seed
earn to Russia, in addition to distributing seed to every state.
The two railroad companies handled 4,480 cars of freight
in and out of Mitchell in 1937, doing a freight business amount¬
ing to $826,000. They also shipped in 1,040 cars of ccal and
coke, exclusive of that used by the railroads. Together they
employ 260 people and have an annual pay roll of $370,000.
There are two banks i.n Mitchell, both members of the Fad-
12
eral Reserve System. Together they had capital and sur¬
plus of $303,104, deposits of $2,832,753, and resources of
$3,261,052 in March 1938.
Wholesale. Because of Mitchell's favorable geographical
position, its wholesale trade area extends approximately 30
miles north, 60 miles south, 30 miles east, and' 200 miles west,
including in the latter direction several counties west of the
Missouri river. Among its 20 raaniufaetuirng establishments
which (1938) give steady employment to 312 persons and have
a total annual pay roll of $416,324 are five dairy products
companies, two poultry and livestock feed manufacturies, two
concrete products companies, two ice cream plants, and four
bakeries. Mitchell also has two book publishing plants, and
two newspapers, a daily and a weekly.
To serve the combined local business and that of the towns
in its large trade territory, Mitchell has 50 wholesale, dis¬
tributing companies. These include two wholesale fruit and'
grocery bouses, and one dealing in groceries only, two whole¬
sale ice companies, one farm supply house, nine gas aind oil
distributors, three cement and tile companies, two wholesalers
of hog serum, a seed packing and shipping company, and ten
dairies. In addition to these there are a soft drink bottling
works, two chicken hatcheries, a cheese factory, two packing
plants, three elevators, a planing mill, and a. rendering plant.
There is also a modern laundry employing thirty people. Many
of the larger oil companies have both service 'and bulk sta¬
tions in the city.
Weealngton Spring
Gftnn Valley
Letcher
[Chamberlain
Kimball
Plenkintou
Academy
Parka too
HUTCHINSON
i Gregory
Usrr,-
Scbtlard
Dallas
Bonesieel
Wagner
Fairfax
Pro*^ Kennebec
LYMAN
NORTH
C i
h-
Jj StlckoeyH | ^1
; ai.!jiH_A N_SO
pT.X "D O"U GTas rll
Map of
MITCHELL and Trade Vicinity
LEGES'I >
Higbwa»«
Railroad* —f—(—i—
tvale 1 •: .ntn I3m,e
13
The U. iS. Census of Business of 1935 reported that 29
wholesale establishments in Mitchell had a total net sales of
$2,915,000. These companies gave employment to 135 work¬
ers and had a total pay roll of $199,000 for the year.
Retail. Mitchell's retail trade .area, as specified by the
Audit Bureau of Circulations, extends into 14 South Dakota
counties—Davison, Hanson, McCook, Aurora, Hutchinson, Sam-
born, Miner, Jerauld, Douglas, Charles Mix, Gregory, Brule,
Buffalo, and Lyman.
Although the raising of corn, wheat, and feed provides
the major income during normal years for the 114,000 people
who live within this region of diversified farming, yet the
sales of livestock, poultry, and butterfat adld thousands of dol¬
lars to it each month.
The city has 225 retail establishments, and retail sales
average $6,000,000 annually. The volume reported by the
U. S. Census of Business for 1985 was $6,24.6,000; there were
193 proprietors listed, and 712 employees, with a total payroll
of $581,000.
According to the business census, the 20 automotive deal-
ens led the local retail industries with a sales volume of
$1,329,000, >and. the 57 grocery and food stores were next with
$986,000. Over the same period, seven general merchandise
stores had a sales volume of $968,000.
Mitchell has 29 cafes, lunchrooms, and cocktail bars, in¬
cluding more than 10 first class restaurants. With their
regular patronage increased through the holding of numerous
conventions in the city, and through a large seasonal trade
from tourists en route to the Black Hills, the total volume of
annual sales for this division of retail business is $387,090.
The following tabulation lists the types of retail business
in Mitchell, shows the 1935 volume of business, and gives
the number of employees and the amount of the nay rolls.
No. of
Propri
- Em-
Total
Kind of business
firms
Sales
etors ploy's Payroll
Food stores
.. . 57
$ '986,000
56
84
$ 60,000
Eating, drinking places
.... 29
337,000
32
103
46,000
General merchandise group 7
968,000
125
87,000
Apparel group
16
695,000
6
94
77,000
Automotive group
20
1,329,000
16
104
108,000
Filling stations
35
502,000
34
52
49,000
Fu/rnitura-bousehold-
raddo
10
224,000
5
33
37,000
Lumber-building
hardware
18
460,000
11
35
42,000
Drug stores
6
227,000
6
25
26,000
Liquor stores (packaged) 3
53,000
2
7
5,000
Other stores
25
465,000
25
50
38,009
Total
225
6,246,000
193
712
581,000
14
Professional men. Mitchell has always had many college-
trained men among its residents. In 1880 the Government
Land Office was opened in Mitchell and only college, graduates
were employed. Today, in addition to teachers, ministers,
and specialists in commodity .business, there are 19 attorneys,
16 physicians, 11 dentists, 15 newspapermen and writers, 2
architects, 5 realtors, 50 insurance men, and scores of office
men and women.
There is an abundant supply of craftsmen and of unskilled
labor in Mitchell.
EDUCATION
The early residents of Mitchell lost no time in getting
their schools started and spared no pains or expense in keep¬
ing them up-to-date and adequate for the needs of the grow¬
ing city. The first public school classes were held during
the winter of 1870-80, the year the town was founded, in a
Presbyterian chapel on Main Street, and the first school
building, the old' Whittier grade and high school, was built in
1880 on the grounds now occupied by the Junior High School.
Today the public schools of Mitchell, four grade schools and
one Junior and one .Senior High School, are of brick and stone
construction with actual valuation of $940,000. The total en¬
rollment is 1,828 and there are 73' instructors and one school
nurse.. The Senior High School is a member of the North
Central Association of 'College® and Secondary Schools with
a first-class rating, and its athletic field, lighted for night
games, is one of the best in the State.
A Catholic parochial school was started in Mitchell in
1885 and has grown to include the grades', four years of high
school and two years of college. The first building was a
small hrick structure erected in. 1900 adjoining the Hcly Fami¬
ly Church, where the school still stands. The enrollment in¬
creased rapidly, in 1912 the present $150,000 building was
erected, and Notre Dame Academy was officially opened in
1913. At present the institution has an average enrollment of
550 students, with 21 instructors.
Dakota Wesleyan, a four-year Methodist university, was
officially opened for instruction in 1885 and since that time
has grown steadily, not only in buildings a.nd enrollment, but
also in academic accred-itment and scholastic standing. Start¬
ing with one building, which later burned to the ground, the
school has expanded until it now has eight buildings and a
shady, landscaped campus of 20 acres. Since 1886 the Uni-
15
CITY HALL
LAKE MITCHELL
JSINESS DISTRICT
vensity has been under the control of a Board of Directors
elected by the Methodist Conference, but students of any die-
nomination may attend.
To complete the outline of educational facilities in Mit¬
chell there is the Mitchell Business College, a privately-own¬
ed institution giving a two-year business course, accredited by
the National Association of Accredited Commercial Schools.
It has both day and night classes, with an average yearly en¬
rollment of 150 students. There are five instructors.
RECREATION AND AMUSEMENTS
Mitchell has an extensive park system of 1,300 acnes, di¬
vided into five parks ranging from three to 1,250' acres in size.
Lake Park and iHitohcock Park are the outstanding units of
this park system, with facilities for golf, tennis, baseball, soft
ball, swimming, boating, fishing, ice skating, lawn bowling,
horseshoe pitching, skeet shooting and horseback riding. East
Sidle, West Side, and South Side parks provide various sec¬
tions of the city with shade trees, play-ground equipment, wad¬
ing pools, picnic grounds and tables, and restrooms.
City bowling leagues for men and women have a regular
schedule of matches throughout the winter and compete with
teams from other cities. A community recreation room at
122 South Main .Street, operated with the aid of the Works
Progress Administration, provides free public facilities each
day for reading, table tennis, billiards and other games, and
the local Y. M. C. A. has a well equipped recreation rcom for¬
me rubers.
During the 1936 and 1937 season® Mitchell was a member
of the Nebraska Baseball League and will probably resume
play in 1939 following a year's absence because of complica¬
tions among "farm ' clubs in higher leagues with which Mit¬
chell had working agreements. A local hockey team schedules
games with teams from surrounding towns each winter, and
there are several community basketball and volley ball teams
in action during the season.
The Municipal Band of forty pieces gives weekly ooen-air
concerts during the summer, in addition to playing for many
public meetings and assemblies throughout the year.
Three modern theatres, with a total seating capacity of
approximately 2,000, serve the city's movie fans, and the Corn
Palace, wiith its 50x46 foot stage and 5,000 seats, provides ade¬
quate auditorium facilities. Dances are held at the Corn Pal¬
ace and at Dreamland, a public hall operated by the American
Legion.
18
POINTS OF INTEREST
1. THE CORN PALACE
(Main St. and 6th Ave.)
The plan of a Corn Palace for Mitchell originated with a
conversation between two Mitchell residents in the summer of
1892. The idea was advanced that it would' hie a good move
to establish >a corn palace on the lines of the one recently
abandoned iby Sioux City. The following' day, August 1, a
group of businessmen canvassed the town and secured sub¬
scriptions of $3,700 and that nigbt an organization meeting
was held and 'Committees were chosen to carry out various
phases of preliminary work. By the last of September a
building, 66x100 feet, was erected on the northeast corner of
Main Street and Fourth Avenue. It was covered on the out¬
side with corn, worked out in geometric designs with varying
shades of the grain and inside it was decorated with am in¬
genious assortment of corn products, fabricated by the women
of Mitchell. The Iowa State Band' and two South Dakota
bands were obtained and the 'attendance of 'outstanding bands
became a characteristic feature of Corn Palace Week for the
next thirty years.
The second Corn Palace celebration was held the follow¬
ing year at the same time, the last week in September. An
addition, 42x1100 feet, was put up on the north side of the
original building. The Regimental Band from 'Lynn, Mass.,
■and two other bands were imported. The celebration lasted
ten days. Although a preliminary meeting was heild' the fol¬
lowing year, it was decided bo forego the Corn Palace cele¬
bration on account of the prevailing hard times and low prices.
So fior six years the Corn Palace stood unused, except for oc¬
casional meetings of various kinds. In 1898 the five-year-old
corn decorations were ripped off and the building painted.
In 1900 the Corn Palace celebrations were resumed, and, with
the exception of 1901. they have been held .annually ever since.
By 1905 the building was unable to accommodate the ever-
increasing crowds. So in tihie summer o<f that year the old
building was torn down, but no firm could be found to bid on
the ereotioin of a new one. The time was getting short and
finally Dr. Dundas of Mitchell undertook to build a new Pal¬
ace. He persuaded the railroads to donate the freight on the
lumber and the lumber companies to furnish the material
with the understanding that it would be paid for at the con¬
clusion of the celebration. In 55 days, with labor hired by
the day, he had 'erected a building on the northeast corner of
Fifth Avenue and Main Street. The celebration was held on
schedule and at its close half the indebtedness was wiped off.
19
The three banks of Mitchell divided up the remainder, secured
by a mortgage on the building and guarantee notes signed by
various citizens. In 1910 the final payments were made and
the Corn Palace cleared -of debt.
Ini pursuing their policy of getting the best bands obtain¬
able, the committee had some amusing experiences. In 1904,
wishing to engage Sousa s band, they wired his manager to
know if this famous band could come for the week of the
celebration. The manager wired back asking them if they
had any idea of what it would cost to get the; band for a single
concert. The committee wired again- to know what it would
cost to have the band give two performances a day for six
days. The reply was $7,000, and the manager thought that
would settle it. Much to his surprise the committee wired
that they would accept and that two Mitchell banks would
guarantee payment. Still unconvinced, the manager made a
personal visit to Mitchell before closing the deal. When the
necessary papers had been signed', the manager remarked,
"Whatever you gentlemen lack in judgment, you certainly
make up in nerve." When Sousa arrived with his band and
caught sight of u-npaved- Main Street stretching north, he re¬
fused to let his musicians leave the train until he received
a check for payment in full. The bankers countered by bring¬
ing the total -amount in cash down to the depot. Later, S-ous-a
was so delighted with -the almost royal welcome extended to
him by the -crowd that -be rearranged his program so as to give
three concerts a day of ten numbers each, besides numerous
encores.
Another triumph was scored by the committee when they
obtained the Marine Band of Washington, D. C., for Corn
Palace Week. They were first refused by the naval authori¬
ties on the ground that the Marine Band never left Washing¬
ton except in the service of the Government. Nothing daunted,
they made a personal appeal to President Taft, who, as a Presi¬
dential candidate, had spoken at a previous Corn Palace cele¬
bration. Through him it was -arranged- that the band should
make the Western trip on an additional furlough. That year,
1909, the attendance receipts broke all previous records.
By 1920 the Corn Palace was again unable to take care
of the increasing crowds and a new Corn Palace was erected
at a cost of $300,000. Since 1920 a new policy has been fol¬
lowed by the committee. Instead- of bringing in the leading
bands of the country, -they have obtained dance orchestras- of
the first rank, and outstanding vaudeville acts. The show
today -consists of dancing interspersed by vaudeville and has
proven very popular. In 1937 various towers and minarets,
highly-colored -and pictured with Oriental subjects-, were erect¬
ed on the roof of the building, reintroducing the Moorish mo¬
tive that characterized the earliest of all the Corn Palaces.
20
The building1 is freshly decorated before each Corn Palace
celebration, the decorations remaining in place for one year.
In the earlier days, various shades of corn were arranged in
geometric and formal designs to cover the exterior. But in
later years there have been elaborate panel pictures, both
inside and out, formed by white, red, yellow and other shades
of corn, some of which is grown especially for this purpose.
It takes between two and three thousand bushels of corn to
decorate the Palace each year; and in the recent dry years it
was sometimes necessary to employ sheaf grain and grasses
to fill out. The designs for the panels are all the work of
local artists.
Corn Palace Week has not only brought crowds from all
parts of the State and far beyond its borders, but has attracted
speakers of national and international reputation. Among
outstanding men who have spoken from the Corn Palace
platform have been Franklin D. Roosevelt, Theodore Roose¬
velt, Herbert Hoover, William Howard Taft, William Jennings
Bryan, and Senators Borah of Idaho and Johnson of California.
One of the principal features of the 'Corn Palace celebra¬
tion is the street show. Seven blocks of Main Street through
the business district, from the Milwaukee depot to Seventh
Avenue, a block beyond the Corn Palace, are roped off and
occupied, forming one of the longest street shows in the
United States.
During the remainder of the year, the Corn Palace serves
as a convention hall, and is also the scene of basketball tour¬
naments, music festivals, the annual President's Ball, the Char¬
ity Ball, and other important functions. But its primary
purpose is always in evidence, and it remains the only large
public building whose sole decoration, inside and out, is ears
of corn sawn lengthwise and arranged to form pictures and
symbols by the varying shades of the grain.
2. THE-ARMORY
(616 N. Main St.)
The Armory at Mitchell, a concrete and steel structure of
Spanish style architecture, adjoins the Corn Palace on the
north. The Armory is 75x142 feet and consists of three stor¬
ies arid a full basement. The vestibule is paved with terrazzo
and the first floor with tile red cement. The first and second
stories are connected with1 the floor of the Corn' Palace and
the balconies respectively. Most of the second1 floor of the
Armory is taken up by ia drill hall, 72x100 feet, extending to
the roof and floored with wood over cement. The first floor
contains the offices of the various National Guard units. In
the basement is an indoor rifle range, also storage rooms for
21
equipment, locker rooms for the different units, and a vault
for the storage of instruments and ammunition.
The Armory was built in 1937-38 to provide a home for
the two local companies and one Medical Detachment of the
National Guard. The existing facilities were entirely inade¬
quate and Mitchell was faced with the loss of the National
Guard units unless suitable accommodations were forthcoming.
The City of Mitchell voted $40,000 worth of bonds and the
Federal Government, through the Works Progress Administra¬
tion, contributed $56,000.
3. DAKOTA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY
(Court Merrill at McCabe St.)
The attractive 20-acre campus of Dakota Wesleyan Uni¬
versity is situated one mile southwest from the center of
Mitchell, overlooking the city from a slight elevation. Court
Merrill, and University Boulevard, the main approaches from
the city, meet at the foot of the campus and divide to form
E. and W. University Avenues. From this point they circle
the southern half of the campus before joining in front of
College Row, consisting of three buildings set in an east and
west line, and continuing south to the gymnasium. A wide
cement walk also runs from the junction of Court Merrill and
University Boulevard south through the center of the Campus
past College Row and on to the buildings in the rear. Toward
the front of the campus the main University buildings, of
Sioux Falls granite following the American collegiate type of
architecture, with a trace of classic, are framed in an artistic
setting of neatly placed trees and ,shrubs, while in the back¬
ground the gymnasium, men's dormitory, and athletic field
occupy prominent positions on the more open part of .the
grounds.
Dakota Wesleyan is a College of Liberal Arts and School
of Music, and offers, in addition to the regular four-year lib¬
eral arts course, four-year and two-year courses in education,
special two-year and three-year pre-professional courses in
medicine, dentistry, engineering, law, theology, and agriculture,
a four-year home economics course, four-year courses in
music, and physical education, debating, oratory, and dramatics
for both men and women. A combination college and pro¬
fessional nurses' training course is organized in conjunction
with the Methodist State Hospital in Mitchell.
The School of Music is perhaps the outstanding depart¬
ment of the University. The a capella choir of 60 voices
tours the State annually, and glee clubs, quartets, and string¬
ed trios add to the musical life of the city. Student recitals
for the public are given frequently, and outstanding1 perform-
22
ers in the musical world are brought to Mitchell through the
sponsorship of the School. A new Hinners two-manual pipe
organ with electric pneumatic control, the gift of a former
Mitchell resident, Mrs. Belle Butterfield, is an important asset
of the music department. In the field of drama there is a
Little Theatre group of about 40 students, known' as the
Prairie Players, who give several one-and three-act plays
each winter.
Dakota Wesleyan athletic teams, the "Tigers," have been
especially outstanding in basketball. The annual Blue and
White Day homecoming celebration in October is the big event
of the college year and also a major celebration for the rest
of the city.
Three quarters of 12 weeks each make up the regular
school term, and a six weeks' summer session is held annually.
The movement to establish a Methodist school in S'outh
Dakota began in 1881, with several towns bidding for the in¬
stitution. The field was finally narrowed down to Mitchell
and Ordway and for a time the possibility of a school at each
of these places was considered. The Methodist Conference
finally decided that it would be better to establish "one insti¬
tution of learning of the higher grade,' and Mitchell was
chosen as the site.
In 1883 a charter was granted authorizing the founding of
Dakota Wesleyan University and' during 1883-84 a company
was formed, the University Addition to the City of Mitchell
was platted, and lots were sold. Sufficient funds were ob¬
tained from this source and from private subscriptions for the
construction, in 1885, of Merrill Hall, the first college build¬
ing. Instruction started in the fall of that year, the insti¬
tution was formally accepted by the Dakota Annual Conference
in 1886, and since that time it has been under the control of
a Board of Directors elected by the. conference.
College Hall, the central building on the campus, houses
the administration offices, the college library of 25,000 vol¬
umes, and class and recreation rooms. Graham Hall is a
modern, three.-story, fireproof dormitory with rooms for 100
women students and, in the basement, a cafeteria capable of
serving 200 people. Science Hall has the science classrooms,
lecture rooms, laboratories, and' the college chapel. The
former President's Home was recently remodeled to make a
new, modern Music Conservatory. Morrow Gymnasium is a
well-equipped athletic plant with shower and locker rooms
for both men and women, an elevated track, basketball floor,
and a wiell-appointed, white-tiled swimming pool. Stout Hall,
adjoining the gymnasium, is a dormitory for freshman boys,
and the other college buildings, .situated just off the campus,
are Phillips Hall, a girls' dormitory, and the new President's
Home.
23
4. DAVISON COUNTY COURT HOUSE
(Between Lawler and Kimball Ste., and Fourth and Fifth Aves.)
Davison County Court House, situated in the center of a
landscaped square, is built of Minnesota cut stone, -with alum¬
inum spandrels and entrance doors. It is 79 by 114 feet, and
has four stories and a basement. The halls and stairways
are paved with terrazzo and the walls are lined with marble
to the ceiling. All the furnishings of the courthouse, with
the exception of those in the courtroom, are of fireproof
material. The entire top story is taken up by the men's and
women's jail, and the living quarters of the jailer.
The courthouse is dignified but striking, being modified
vertical in architecture, and is one of the newest and most
imposing courthouses in the State. It was1 completed in 1936
and dedicated on Labor Day, 1937. Its cost, with furnishings,
was §235,000.
5. THE CITY HALL
(Second Ave. and Rowley St.)
The City Hall, built of reddish South Dakota granite,
consists of two stories and a full basement. Built in 1903, it
was remodeled in 1935. Beginning with the fall of 1936, the
full second story and part of the basement have been furnish¬
ed to house the State Offices of the Works I "regress Adminis¬
tration.
The City Hall was originally erected to serve as the State
Capitol, in case Mitchell should be successful in winning the
fight. All the cities opposing Pierre held a caucus to deter¬
mine the most likely contender. The choice fell on Mitchell
and an active campaign was begun in its behalf. The Mil¬
waukee Railroad backed Mitchell as their choice, and the North
Western favored Pierre. The two railroads issued passes to
all voters wishing to visit their respective candidates; and it
is estimated that during the summer preceding the election,
more than a hundred thousand people visited each of the two
contenders.
6. THE CARNEGIE LIBRARY
(Third Ave. and Rowley St.)
The Carnegie Library, of reddish granite from Spencer,
S. Dak., was erected in 1903 at a cost of §10,000 as the gift of
Andrew Carnegie, who later gave an additional §2,000 for the
furnishings. In 1930 an addition, also of Spencer granite,
was erected at a cost of §5,000.
The library at present contains 19,000 volumes, to which
the largest single contribution was the collection of the W. S.
Hill family of Mitchell, consisting o.f more than a thousand
24
volumes. The library is served by a trained staff of five,
in addition to one or two part time workers. One of the fea¬
tures of the library is a collection, covering five shelves, of
books about South Dakota or by South Dakotans. Particular
attention is paid to the needs of children, two rooms being
set apart for them in the basement of the library, with a
special librarian in charge. This is the only library in the
State that maintains a reader adviser, an innovation which has
met with much favor. The average annual circulation of the
Carnegie Library is between 105,000 and 110,000 volumes.
7. CITY MUSEUM
(203 W. First Ave.)
The City Museum (open 8-12 and 1:30-5 week days) is
housed in the basement of the Chamber of Commerce Building,
and began with a collection belonging to the former Custer
Battlefield Highway Association. On January 1, 1036, the
coillection', consisting mainly of Indian artifacts, was taken
over by the city and to it was added' the collection of pioneer
articles bequeathed to the city by the late Mrs. J. Syke® Wil¬
son. Mrs. Wilson was a resident of Davison County for more
than fifty years. This collection consists for the most part
of pioneer articles. A third collection comprises a great
number of arrowheads, flesh scrapers, stone hammers, and
other utensils excavated from the Arikara Indian Village site
on the south shore of Lake Mitchell. A fourth division of
the museum is an exhibit of grains, sugar, and honey supplied
by the Belle Fourobe Irrigation Project of the northen
Black Hills.
8. HOLY FAMILY CHURCH
(Third Ave. and Kimball St.)
Holy Family Church, the Catholic church of Mitchell, was
erected in 1906 during the pastorate of Rev. J. J. Shea at a
cost of approximately $100,000. This large Gothic edifice is
built of reddish South Dakota granite quarried near Spencer,
25 miles east of Mitchell. The cross atop the spire is 165 feet
above the ground. On the grounds in front of the church is
a granite boulder with a bronze plate attached', on which are
inscribed the names of those parishioners who died in the
World War.
Adjoining the church on the south is the parochial school,
Notre Dame Academy, which is also of Spencer granite,
erected in 1912. The group of parish buildings is completed
by a handsome rectory of yellow brick, erected in 1921 at a
cost of $30,000.
25
9. METHODIST CHURCH
(Third Ave. and Rowley St.)
The Methodist Episcopal Church in Mitchell, dedicated on
January 26, 1908, is constructed of undressed Sioux Falls
granite, representing a natural rock finish. Although not
following any distinctive architectural style, it has stained
glass windows, wide arched entrances, and a solid steeple, giv¬
ing an impression of massiveness and dignity.
10. ST. JOSEPH'S HOSPITAL
(1100 East Fifth Ave.)
Situated on the northeast edge of town, the Catholic hos¬
pital of St. Joseph is an attractive brick structure three stories
high. It is connected with a small chapel at the west end
and has a few rooms built on the rear.
St. Joseph's Hospital was founded' in 1905 by the Presen¬
tation Sisters. In 1922 the present hospital building was
erected at a total cost, with subsequent additions, of $352,000.
The old hospital then became the nurses' home in connection
with the nurses' training school conducted by the hospital.
In 1937 a chapel and classroom were added to the building.
The low-ceiled chapel with its beamed roof, its hanging lamps,
and its mullioned windows, carries with it an old-world at¬
mosphere. In 1938 an ambulance driveway and three rooms
for pediatric cases were added to the hospital.
The capacity of St. Joseph's Hospital is 100 beds, and it
is served by a staff of 16 physicians. The nursing staff
numbers 85, including the Sisters. The hospital is thoroughly
modern in its equipment and is joint owner, with the other
Mitchell hospital, of an iron lung.
11. THE METHODIST STATE HOSPITAL
(900 S. Iowa St )
Set in a 5-acre plot along US 16 in the southwestern
part of Mitchell is the Methodist State Hospital. This im¬
posing brick structure, rectangular in shape and consisting of
three stories and basement, was erected in 1917, and a few
years later two wings were added, bringing the total cost of
the building to a quarter of a million dollars. The hospital
has a capacity of 100 beds and is served by a closed staff of
twelve physicians. There is a nurses' training school in con¬
nection with an attendance of about forty, and a three-story
nurses' home to accommodate them is nearby.
The hospital is owned and governed by the Methodist
Church. The Methodist Conference appoints a governing
board", and the board elects a superintendent.
26
MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
COURT HOUSE
12. HITCHCOCK PARK
(East Hanson St. between Gamble and Foster Sts.)
Hitchcock Park, in the southeastern corner of the city,
was named for Abner Hitchcock, donor of the 23-aere plot,
and brother of U. S. Senator Herbert E. Hitchcock (1936-1938).
The park is a large square, outlined by trees and hedges,
within which are arranged flower beds and gardens, green¬
houses, flowering shrubs, and attractive stretches of green
lawn. Recreation, playground, and picnic facilities help form
a delightful outdoor retreat and recreational center.
The main driveway enters the park from the northwest
and curves through the center, branching south to the picnic
grounds and east between the tennis courts and the sunken
garden. A concrete bandstand, just north of the road, is
used for summer concerts, and beyond that to the east is the
children's playground and swimming pool, surrounded by shade
trees under which are scattered tables and benches. Near
the center of the park are four horseshoe courts, cue of the
finest lawn bowling greens in the Northwest, lighted for night
bowling, and five clay tennis courts which extend to the eastern
boundary. In winter the tennis courts are flooded to provide
an ice-skating and hockey rink.
Both hard ball and soft ball diamonds are laid out in the
southwestern corner of the park, and a strip along the entire
southern border has been reserved for picnic grounds and is
equipped with tables, benches, open fireplaces, a shelter house,
and restrooms.
Just within the entrance to the park, on the left, is the
upper MILLSTONE from the old White Flour Mill that stood
on the east bank of the James River near the sPe of Mitchell.
The mill was the first commercial enterprise in the vicinity
of the city.
13. LAKE MITCHELL
(Extreme north end of Main St.)
Since the city was not on any natural lake and since
there was a distinct need both for an adequate water supply
and a community recreation center, a group of businessmen
proposed that a lake be built near the city. The project met
with general approval and in 1927, city officials voted a bond
issue of $350,000 to create a lake and build a filtration plant on
Firesteel Creek at the northern edge of the city. The dam
was completed in 1928 and in March 1929, water b&gan to flew
over the spillway.
The lake covers 694 acres and has a watershed of about
580 square miles, chiefly to the northwest. The maximum
28
depth of the lake is 25 feet, the average depth 12.7 feet, and the
shore line is 13 miles in length. Numerous natural inlets and
jutting points of land add to the attractiveness of the site.
Approximately 50,000 trees have been planted about the lake,
most of which are thriving.
Swimming, fishing, and boating are the principal sports
provided by Lake .Mitchell. There are pike, bass, crappies,
and bullheads in the lake, and fishing supplies may be obtain¬
ed at several points along the lake shore. Bayside Beach,
open to the public, is the chief summer recreation center. It
is lighted for night bathing and is staffed by trained lifeguards.
Since the lake was a wild game refuge., with all hunting
prohibited, it has become a resting place for ducks, geese and
other wild fowl. Rearing ponds for fish are also maintained
to insure future sport for anglers.
14. INDIAN VILLAGE
(Lakeahore Drive off north end of Main St.)
The site of an Indian village, probably abandoned by a
tribe of Arikara Indians some time prior to 1750, is clearly
visible on the south shore of Lake Mitchell. In 1938 work
was begun by the University of South Dakota and City of
Mitchell with the aid of the Works Progress Administration to
29
excavate and reconstruct two of the large mud huts in which
these people lived. One-third of the artifacts excavated from
the village go to the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.
C., one-third to the University of South Dakota Museum, and
the remainder are displayed at the Mitchell Museum.
The Arikaras entered what is now South Dakota about
1600, coming up the Missouri River. They were unmolested
until the middle of the eighteenth century when the invading
Teton Sioux drove them northward and to virtual extinction.
At Lake Mitchell .several acres of concentric rings, 20 to
60 feet in diameter, indicate where the mud huts stood.
Pieces of broken pottery, garden tools made from animal
bones, and stone war implements have been found.
From the excavations made by archaeologists, it has been
discovered that these people planted extensive gardens, and
hunted buffalo and other animals. Primitive tools in crude
form, chipped from stone -or fashioned from bones, such as
hoes, mattocks, and spades, have been found in the excava¬
tions. A number of fleshers and scrapers, used to remove
flesh from hides were also found. These Indians were pro¬
ficient in making pottery of native clay, baked to extreme
hardness.
The frame of the huts was made of poles set in the ground,
around which sod was banked. At the height of a man's
head the poles were bowed toward the center and tied. Covered
with skins, dry grass, and dirt, the dwelling was warm in
winter and cool in summer. A hole left in the side formed
the doorway, with a hide to cover it. Niches e *ound the in¬
terior of the walls, with robes hnng in front, formed the
sleeping cubicles. The size of the lodges varied, some ac¬
commodating as many as three families. Beside each lodge
were rubbish heaps, and the artifacts found in them have been
helpful in studying Indian culture.
15. NATURAL AMPHITHEATER
(Lakeshore Drive off north end of Main St.)
A large natural amphitheater on the west shore of Lake
Mitchell is an outstanding feature of Lake Park. A level
stage of fine, seeded turf is lapped on its eastern edge by the
waters of the lake while on the other three sides, facing the
lake, grassy slopes provide seats for approximately 10,000
people.
The amphitheater is used during the summer months for
band concerts, community church services, outdoor conventions
and barbecues. Several permanent barbecue nits have been
placed nearby to aid in feeding the thousands of people who
come to attend these outdoor festivities. An underground
watering system keeps the turf in excellent condition.
30
16. GRACELAND CEMETERY AND
GREENE MONUMENT
(Lakeshore Drive off north end of Main St.)
A quarter of a mile south of Lake Mitchell is attractive,
tree-shaded Graceland Cemetery. The forty acres comprising
this burial place was purchased by the city in 1882 and was
given over to the care of the Cemetery Association, composed
of Mitchell women who hired a sexton to look after it.
Four hundred feet east of the caretaker's cottage in the
center of the cemetery is the GREENE MONUMENT, a red
granite shaft bearing the coat of arms of the Greene family.
At its foot is the grave of Israel Greene, who captured John
Broiwn at Harper's Ferry just shortly before the Civil war.
Lieutenant Greene, as he was then, was in charge of a detail
of twelve marines who stormed the arsenal held by John
Brown and his followers, and it was Greene himself who
knocked Brown senseless with a blow of his saber across the
neck. Greene's superior officer on that occasion was Col.
Robert E. Lee, who directed operations from a nearby vantage
point. Some time after the close of the war, Major Israel
Greene came to Mitchell as a surveyor, and made his home
here until his death in 1909.
17. LAKEVIEW MUNICIPAL GOLF COURSE
(Lakeshore Drive off north end of Main St.)
Two miles north of the city along the west shore of Lake
Mitchell is the Lakeview Municipal Golf Course. A low T-shap¬
ed clubhouse, finished inside and out with log siding, stands
on a slight elevation with the head of the T facing the lake
and the body extending toward the fairways. Immediately
to the south of the building is a practice green and the tee
for the first hole, while to the north is the ninth green, The
body of the clubhouse is an addition built in 1937, that has
dressing rooms, showers, lockers, and a dining and dancing
room with stone fireplace.
The nine-hole course has grass greens and rolling, tree-
lined fairways, with a view of the lake at several points. A
watering system keeps the greens in condition.
The Lakeview course was opened in 1932 as a part of the
city park system and is supported by nominal green fees, sup¬
plemented when necessary by park funds. Three local clubs,
with a total of about 200 members, use the course. They are
the Young Women's Club, The Married Women's Club and the
Professional Men's Club. Several club tournaments are held
each summer. Beginning in 1938 a golf professional will
have charge of the course.
18. COUNTRY CLUB
(One mile east on First Ave.)
The Mitchell Country Club has a private nine-hole golf
course one mile east of the city limits on US 16. The course,
which has sand greens and a par of 36, extends over 2,967
yards of slightly rolling prairie, with a scattering of trees
along the fairways. Gullies, hills, and a creek bed form the
chief natural hazards. Number one tee and number nine
green are just below and to the east of the clubhouse. This
one-story frame building, with basement, is entirely modern
and has dressing rooms, showers, lockers, a kitchen, and a
large banquet room, the scene of numerous club parties and
dances during the season.
The Country Club was organized by Mitchell business
men on June 28, 1915, and has existed continuously since then.
It is maintained entirely by membership fees. In addition to
club tournaments, an annual business men's tournament, spon¬
sored by the Chamber of Commerce, is held on the Country
Club course, drawing about 100 entries from Mitchell and
surrounding towns.
19. PIONEER TRAILS MONUMENT
Three miles east of Mitchell on US 16 is a granite boulder
on the north side of the road with a bronze plate attached.
This monument marks the junction of two historic trails. One
of them was the Old Government Trail from Yankton to Fire-
steel, along the James River Valley on the west side of that
river. This was a mail route and for five years Firesteel's
only communication with the outside world. The second trail
was that from Firesteel to Fort Thompson, just below the Big
Bend of the Missouri River. The two trails met at the cross¬
ing of Firesteel Creek and continued together to the town of
Firesteel, a quarter of a mile north. The monument at the
junction of the two trails was erected by the local Daughters
of the American Revolution during the summer of 1937.
On Christmas Eve of 1875, the regular mail carrier from
Yankton arrived at Firesteel to find a large crowd awaiting
him. He was offered $25 to take the mail on to Fort Thomp¬
son, but he replied, "That isn't enough money." Another
man volunteered to take the job and at a ranch along the
way he met a volunteer party from Fort Thompson coming
to meet him. To them he delivered the mail and turned back
toward Firesteel; but a storm sprang up and he was never
seen nor heard of again. Six months later his horse was
found running loose at the headwaters of Enemy Creek, but
the body of the volunteer mail carrier was never found-
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