The Forgotten Midwest Craze for Palaces Made Out of Grain

atlasobscura.com

40 points·benbreen··8 comments

If you get a chance, stop off in Mitchell, SD, and see the Corn Palace. We stopped for a few hours when driving across the country, it's right on I-90. It really is a sightseeing opportunity; to those living in cities by a coast, the corn palace is a perfect symbol of a very different life. Worth getting a feel for, even if just for lunch.

This is like making sure you visit the Statue of Liberty to get an idea of what life is like in NYC.

Yea, I grew up in SD and I wouldn't really consider the corn palace indicative of life there.

But it's still a unique building and worth seeing if you're driving across the country and generally interested in those kinds of things.

I suppose that's more the vibe I was going for. Lady Liberty isn't indicative of life in NYC but it is a lasting symbol, and the ethos in the city has certainly grown in its presence.

This was the first stop on the Big American Road Trip I did, age 12, with my family. (We are from England.)

I learnt that corn meant only maize (not all grains), that it came in different colours, and when Americans want to do something slightly crazy, they do it properly.

These all look very vulnerable to any wolf with a good set of lungs.

All it links to is a black page asking me to subscribe to some newsletter.

Not sure how you get by, friend. There's a long Internet story to tell…

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