Car Rentals Sioux Falls

Alamo Car Rentals in Sioux Falls

• Old Courthouse Museum
  In 1889, construction started on the first courthouse in Minnehaha County, South Dakota, and designed by local architect, Wallace L. Dow, who had designed numerous structures in the state, including the All Saints School, Thomas B. McMartin House which is now the Pettigrew Home and Museum, and the South Dakota State Penitentiary. It made of native Sioux quartzite stone, one of the most popular building materials of the 19th century, and when finished, Dow stated that it would be the biggest courthouse between Denver and Chicago. The interior highlights granite pillars, tiled fireplaces, slate stairs and stained glass windows; but the most significant features of the structure are the 16 big murals that have been painted on the walls of the courthouse by Norwegian immigrant, Ole Running, that showed the early life in South Dakota, images of his house in Norway and natural features in the state. He was paid $500 for his marvelous works. The building would be used for county business up until 1962, when it was too small for the many activities of the court and administrative duties. The new courthouse would be constructed on the west side of the old one, which would be destroyed to make room for the parking lot. Many of the city's residents objected to the demolition, and campaigned to save the building; which happened in 1974; and it was transformed into a museum and joined with the Pettigrew House and museum that would become the Siouxland Heritage Museums. Currently, you can visit three floors of magnificent display space in the structure that houses a wonderful collection of the area's history. The second floor contains the circuit courtroom and law library with free admission. There is a marvelous museum store that sells unique and special Dakota made gifts for all your family and friends.

Sioux Falls Apt. Alamo Car Rentals
 2801 Jaycee Lane

Alamo Rental Cars Sioux Falls
 5200 S. Louise Ave.

• Center for Western Studies
  The Center for Western Studies is located on the campus of the Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and preserves and interprets the cultures and history of the Northern Plains. It has grown into a huge repository of more than 500 collections and takes care of a library of over 36,000 books about the American west. It also contains a large artifact and art collection, and with more than 70 publications under its belt, it has become the biggest academic publisher in the state. In the Cropp Case, there are beautiful exhibits of the dolls and items of daily use by the Plains Indians, beaded and quilled clothing, the Fantile Collection of Scandinavian furnishings showcases the home environment that the emigrants left when they left for the frontier, and in the permanent art collection that are more than 20 works by well known wildlife artist, Roger Preuss, works by photographer Fred Farrar, paintings by Oscar Howe, Robert Wood and Belva Curtis, sculptor Palmer Eide and water-colorist Herb Fisher. The Preuss collection contains magnificent paintings that were created by Roger for the South Dakota Conservation Digest during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The artworks showcase the wildlife native to the state, with publisher Wildlife of America, publishing many of his works as limited edition prints. One of the main exhibits going on now is the works of JoAnne Bird, who is a wonderful artist in paints and sculpture, that show her native American upbringing, offering viewers a special traditional way of life in a modern contemporary style.

March 15, 2011