The Corn Palace

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The needle of the corn compass points to Mitchell, South Dakota, a prairie town that is corn crazy and proud of it. Mitchell's high school sports teams are the "Kernels" and it's local radio station's call letters are "KORN". It is home to the "agricultural showplace of the world, "The Mitchell Corn Palace".

The Palace, with its mad mix of onion domes and minarets, looks like it was drop-kicked out of czarist Russia. It was originally built to show off the fertility of South Dakota soil and it's remained on the job, standing in downtown Mitchell for over 100 years.

Mitchell's Corn Palace is built out of reinforced concrete, not corn. Every spring, however, it's exterior is completely covered with thousands of bushels of native South Dakota corn, grain and grasses that are arranged into large murals.

Typical yearly themes are South Dakota Birds, or A Salute to Agriculture; this past year's theme was Youth in Action. Locals take great pride in the Palace's "corn-septual art" and "earchitecture." Mitchell isn't called the Corn Capital of the World for nothing!

The Corn Palace serves as a huge auditorium for touring celebrities such as Alabama, Trisha Yearwood, Diamond Rio, Pat Boone, Lawrence Welk and Patti Page, just to name a few. It also serves as a sports arena for the various Kernels teams, and as the locus of Corn Palace Week, the high water mark of Mitchell's yearly social calendar.

Corn Palace week marks the end of the harvest - and the beginning of the planning for next year's Palace theme. The Corn Palace has one more title - the World's Largest Bird Feeder. After Corn Palace Week ends and winter sets in, local birds and squirrels make a feast of the tasty murals.

Well now, isn't that just "KORNY" !

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Photos

The Corn Palace
I could not believe this entire building inside and out is covered with ears of corn, kernels of corn and corn husks, it is amazing...........quite KORNY !

Inside murals made of corn
Look at the murals around the stage...........all corn..........amazing.

This year's theme is already coming down !
It is time now for building next year's theme! Let the birds eat.

Here is one of the boards ready for Corn
Outside, the drawings for next year's palace are in place and the corn is going on as we speak. Notice the black boards with the chalk like substance on them. Those are the drawings for next year waiting to be covered in corn. Each part of the picture has a number indicating the color of corn to be used in that location. When all colors are added, woosh ! A picture is in place!

A close up view
Here is a close up view of some of the ears of corn.