South Dakota Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

Looking for South Dakota trivia? Try our list South Dakota little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—In the 1890s, because of the state’s lax divorce laws, Sioux Falls became a hot spot for quickie divorces. That changed in 1908 when lawmakers raised the residency requirement for couples to one year.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—Daktronics, headquartered in Brookings (pop. 18,504), designs and manufactures electronic scoreboards and computer-programmable displays used worldwide at sporting events, airport terminals, and in electronic voting and display systems.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—Housed in a restored 1800s two-story building, Prairie Edge Trading Co. and Galleries in Rapid City (pop. 59,607) provides Northern Plains Indians with an outlet to sell their art while preserving their heritage and culture.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—At nearly 7,000 feet of elevation, Deer Mountain in the Black Hills near Lead (pop. 3,027) is a favorite destination for skiers and snowmobile enthusiasts.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—In 1944, Congress authorized a program for development along the Missouri River that included construction of four dams: Fort Randall near Wagner (pop. 1,675); Oahe north of Pierre (pop. 13,876); Gavins Point west of Yankton (pop. 13,528); and Big Bend at Fort Thompson (pop. 1,375).

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—The first memorial to President Theodore Roosevelt was a stone observation tower near Deadwood (pop. 1,380). The tower was built in 1919 by Seth Bullock, the sheriff and a friend of Roosevelt.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—The George and Eleanor McGovern Library and Center for Leadership and Public Service at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell (pop. 14,558) opened in October. McGovern served three terms as a U.S. senator and ran for president in 1972.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

A 60-foot-tall bull’s head sculpture created by Wayne Porter looms at Porter Sculpture Park along Interstate 90 near Montrose (pop. 460). The blacksmith-artist welded a field full of whimsical iron sculptures, including vultures and a giant pink rocking horse.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—At an elevation of more than 4,400 feet, Bear Butte near Sturgis (pop. 6,442) long has been a sacred place for American Indians. On the hike to the top are bits of cloth tied to trees as prayer offerings.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—The Shoe House, a shoe-shaped house filled with 9,000 pairs of shoes and footwear-related items, is part of the Museum of Wildlife, Science and Industry in Webster (pop. 1,952). Mildred Fiksdal O’Neill began the collection in the 1940s.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—Guests stay in a Sears and Roebuck mail-order house at the Triangle Ranch Bed and Breakfast in Philip (pop. 885). The unassembled two-and-a-half-story, mission-style house arrived by train and was built in 1923 by H.H. Williams, whose great-granddaughter today owns the home.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—Residents of Sioux Falls are the safest drivers in the United States, according to the Allstate America’s Best Drivers Report. Motorists average one accident every 14.3 years, as compared to the national rate of one accident every 10 years.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Davin Holland of Tabor (pop. 417) reeled in a state record flathead catfish from the James River in June. The whopper weighed 63.5 pounds, was 47 inches long and had a girth of 30 inches.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—Built in 1949 across the Cheyenne River near Hot Springs (pop. 4,129), the Angostura Dam created a fishermen’s paradise with 5,000 acres of water teeming with walleye, crappie, and smallmouth and largemouth bass.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

Vern Sager, a cowboy in Porcupine (pop. 407), is the subject of the 2005 PBS documentary The Last Cowboy. Filmmaker Jon Alpert spent 23 years trailing and filming Sager to capture the realities of cowboy life.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

Rick Johns, craftsman and owner of the Landlocked Boat Shop in Vermillion (pop. 9,765), builds kayaks the traditional way: without glue or metal fasteners, but with wooden pegs and artificial sinew for lashings.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

Beginning in the 1890s, several church denominations spread the Gospel to Western settlers in railroad "chapel cars." One Baptist church on rails, the Emmanuel chapel car, is restored and rests at Historic Prairie Village in Madison (pop. 6,540). Worship services still are conducted in the car during two weekends a year.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

The Highlands Historical District in Aberdeen (pop. 24,658), with 17 houses built between 1907 and 1969, gained its lofty title because the property sits 3 feet higher than the town's commercial district, which was built in a slough.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

In downtown Rapid City (pop. 59,607), the "City of Presidents," you can view bronze likenesses of George Washington, Calvin Coolidge and other U.S. presidents. In 2000, the city launched a 10-year project to create full-size statutes of each of the nation's presidents.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

Since 1939, the religious drama Black Hills Passion Play has been presented under the stars at the Spearfish Amphitheater, among the world's largest outdoor stages with seating for 6,000, in Spearfish (pop. 8,606).

first appeared: 7/16/2006

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