Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Thursday, October 03, 2024
Iowa's Corn Palace. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. The 57 AAA is here. Sweet, smooth and sassy. Your road trips will never be the same when you're behind the wheel of an American legend. Camp Courageous is giving you the chance to win a 57 Chevy Bel Air Sportgoop. This is the car people turn their heads for. Get your raffle tickets now at Camp Courageous.org. Learn more and get your raffle tickets now for a chance to glide down the road in a classic 57 Chevy. Visit Camp Courageous.org. Iowa is the corn state and over time we've celebrated our top crop in a number of ways. In Sioux City one of those ways was to build a building and hold a festival. So in 1887 they built a building with more than 18,000 square feet of floor space. At a cost of $25,000. Every inch of the outside of the wooden structure was covered with corn and grain. Ears of brightly colored so-called Indian corn were sliced and nailed into fancy patterns. And above each arched doorway a farming scene was created from corn and grain. Even sorghum and cat tails were used in the designs. The women of Sioux City were invited to decorate the inside, including a map of the United States with each state made of a different color of grains and seeds. Mirals covered the walls showing natural scenes. The first corn palace festival opened on October 3, 1887. Nearly 140,000 people attended, including President Grover Cleveland, who came by special train to see the corn palace the day after the festival ended. Another year another festival with new designs all made from corn. Attendance had started to slip after the fifth year though, and then in the spring of 1892 the Great Floyd River Flood devastated Sioux City. Organizers decided to use the money that would have gone toward building a new corn palace for flood relief. When folks in Mitchell, South Dakota realized Sioux City was not going to build a corn palace that year, they built one of their own. It since become a world-renowned tourist attraction. Sioux City never did build another corn palace, as the flood year gave way to a national financial panic the next, and then the idea was lost. But for five years, Sioux City's corn palace was a bright spot of the harvest season. And the first palace and festival opened on this date in 1887. And that's Iowa Almanac for October 3. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.