Corn Palace
604 north main, +1 866 273-corn 2676 for all your information needs (http://www.cornpalace.org/), admission is free. memorial day through labor day: 8am-9pm daily; hours may vary during the corn palace festival. april, may, september & october: 8am-5pm daily; november - march: 8am-5pm m-f. the original palace was built in 1892 in order to display the fertility of south dakota's soil. the current building is the third incarnation and was built in 1921. each year a new mural designed by local artists related to life in south dakota is created on the exterior of the palace. the murals are created from a lot of corn, grasses, grains, straw, oats, etc. inside the palace there is a stage and arena for sporting events. each year there is a corn palace festival that takes place in front of the corn palace.
Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village
3200 indian village road, north of the corn palace, follow the signs, +1 605 996-5473, (http://www.mitchellindian...). april: mo-fr 9am-4pm; may: daily 9am-4pm; memorial weekend through labor day: daily 8am-6pm; september: daily 9am-4pm; october: mo-fr 9am-4pm; november through march: by appointment only weather permitting. adult $6; seniors 60+ $5; students 6-18 $4; children 5 and under free. group 10 or more people rates available: adult $4 each; student $2 each. the boehnen museum offers exhibits related to the thousand year old village. included in the museum is a reconstructed lodge. inside the museum is the "shoppe antiquary" which sells a variety of traditional, ceremonial, and contemporary native american arts and crafts, and more. outside the museum one can learn how to use and practice the atlatl spear thrower. then follow the path to the thomsen center archeodome which covers the on-going archeological dig. the dome also provides a teaching and research facility as well as some hands on activities upstairs.