The Museums of Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Pettigrew House and Museum was our first stop in Sioux Falls. It is a Queen Anne home built in 1889 and located in a historic residential neighborhood.  It was purchased in 1911 by Richard F. Pettigrew, South Dakota's first full-term U.S. Senator.  Pettigrew collected artifacts from his travels all over the world and many of these items are now on display.  We caught the last tour of the day, and were rushing over to the Courthouse Museum before it closed, so we probably didn't give it all the time it deserved. You can take more time there, but we felt like we got enough out of the stop to move on.   You enter from the right side of the house, which is covered in petrified wood.  It was pretty cool.  

The Old Courthouse Museum is an 1890s Richardsonian Romanesque native pink quartzite building featuring an 1893 clock tower, a restored circuit courtroom, law library and 16 wall murals painted from 1915 to 1917.  The kids favored the corn exhibit, mainly because they were able to get on a computer and listen to the "Kernal Kids" sing corny songs about corn.

Know Before You Go: I am surprising myself by saying this, but you can actually spend more than one day here in Sioux Falls.  The Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum of Natural History, Sertoma Butterfly House and Kirby Science Discovery Center look like they could be fun additions to the itinerary. I have heard rumors of an old Ghost Town on the outskirts of town which you know has to be totally awesome. Imagine the road trip memories that could be made there!