What Is the South Dakota State Capitol?
It’s the South Dakota State Capitol building!
What Makes It Historical?
The shaping of South Dakota’s capital city was a fracturous one, starting in 1889 when the huge Dakota Territory was split into two states! The territorial capital of Bismarck stayed in North Dakota while the South stuck with Yankton at the start. The only trouble was, Yankton was way down in the southeast corner of the state and really inconvenient for all the folks in the Black Hills area! So the next year, it went up for a vote, and out of Mitchell, Watertown, Huron, and Pierre, Pierre won the vote with bribery rampant on both sides! Huron, which had been the “squatter capital” from 1885 to 1889, cried foul! Mitchell challenged Pierre in 1904, but again, the central city on the Missouri River with access to the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad won out!
With that settled, Governor Herreid was ready to get started on a grand new capitol building, well, mostly new. To cut costs, he decided to use Charles E. Bell’s designs from the Montana capitol completed 7 years earlier! Despite some controversy, much of the marble interior was imported from Italy and crafted by Italian workers! In any case, the state capitol was dedicated on June 30, 1910 with an overall cost under $1 million! Surprisingly, the capitol sits on top of a natural gas well that provided het for the city, and that well exploded in 1950! While it didn’t damage the capitol, today, there is an ever-burning torch displayed on capitol grounds to ease the pressure!
How Can I #HelpTheHelpers?
- Become a member of the South Dakota State Historical Society!
- Be a responsible visitor! Please respect the signs and pathways, and treat all structures and artifacts with respect. They’ve endured a lot to survive into the present. They’ll need our help to make it into the future!
How Do I Get There?
500 E. Capitol
Pierre, SD 57501
(Take Me There!)
When Should I Visit?
The capitol building is open Moday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM and on weekends & holidays from 8:00 AM until 5:00 PM!
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