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Things to do in Watertown, South Dakota
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Mellette House
Arthur Calvin Mellete built this
house for his wife, Margaret Wylie Mellette and four sons on top
of Prospect Hill in Watertown, South Dakota in 1885. Constructed
in the Italianate architectural style, very popular at the time,
it was made of bricks that came from the town's brickyard that
was owned by Arthur and his long time friend and business
partner, William McIntyre. One of the most exquisite features of
this magnificent home is the huge winding staircase that goes up
from the first floor, through the second and into a small tower
room that sits on the third floor. It is believed that the
staircase was constructed in Minnesota and brought by train to
be installed in the beautiful house. The first floor contains a
library/office, kitchen and pantry attached, superb double
parlor room, and a lovely dining room. While the family was
living here, they decided to have a garage/carriage house built
and it is where the museum of this family is located today. The
Mellettes were great hosts, and held some of the best parties of
the day in their home, as well as interesting political
gatherings. Arthur was the tenth appointed governor of the
Dakota territory, and then was elected to be its first governor.
He was born in Henry County, Indiana, in 1842, getting his
education, and then going to the Indiana University in
Bloomington where he entered the law school, which were suddenly
interrupted with the Civil War, in 1864. He enlisted into the
9th Regiment of Indiana Volunteers and stayed in it until the
end of the war in September of 1865; going back to Bloomington
to continue his law studies. He finished these in 1866, and then
married Margaret Wylie, who was the daughter of one of the
professors at the university, and was the daughter of the owners
of the boarding house where young Arthur was staying. After
their marriage, they moved to Muncie, Indiana; and Maggie had
four sons. While in Muncie, Arthur practiced law, became
co-owner of the town's newspaper, and also served in the state's
legislature. In 1878, the family left the area since Maggie's
health was getting bad and Arthur thought a better climate would
help her. Arthur had visited the Dakotas and thought it would be
the best place to help Maggie, so he moved his family here in
1879, on a cool winter's day when the temperature was 45 below
zero. They first came to Springfield, with Arthur working as the
Registrar of the United States Land Office and they stayed here
until it was moved from Springfield to Watertown in 1880. He
moved his family here, and since there weren't a lot of houses,
camped at Lake Kampeska and bought a small store in Watertown.
Arthur ran the store in front and the family lived in the back.
Their beautiful house was built, and they came here to live for
the following ten years, while Arthur became involved in many
ventures of business in the region, as well as the territory.
Being public minded, he thought the territory was big enough to
be separated into two states, and worked towards those ends. His
feeling this way made him a popular man in the territory, and a
great political speaker. He became the last territory governor
in 1889, and received his oath of office in his own law office.
Within 6 months, the territory became a state and he was elected
to be the governor of South Dakota and both states entered the
Union in the next month. Arthur served as governor for two
terms, and not wanting a third, left public office in 1894, and
went back to being a lawyer and businessman. Some serious
sicknesses changed his mind, though and in 1895, the family
moved to Pittsburg, Kansas, with plans to go back to their home
in Watertown as soon as possible. Sadly, he died in May of 1896,
at the fairly young age of 53, and since he knew he was dying,
made sure his remains would be taken back to Watertown to be
buried. His wife, Maggie, lived until she was 95, staying in
Pittsburg with her son Anton. Maggie, Arthur and two sons, Dick
and Wylie are buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in Watertown.
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Codington County Heritage Museum
The museum is found in the
old Carnegie Library structure that is in uptown Watertown,
South Dakota, and houses many thousands of local historical
artifacts, over 2000 photographs and 200 linear feet of archival
items. There are both permanent and temporary displays, with a
turn of the century Victorian house, military exhibit, 1920s
dental office, dry goods store, country school and general
store. The museum is operated by the Historical Society and the
archives directories of the society are housed here. There
directories are searchable and contain the street directories,
county atlas index, uptown buildings tenants lists and telephone
directories. Making these directories searchable, helps those
interested in their ancestors to find out any pertinent or
necessary information. They are available via the internet or by
going to the library itself. Codington County was the
first county in the territory to become one by the legislature
in 1877, and became affected in 1878, when the new governor set
up a commission to organize it using the Hamlin, Clark and Grant
counties to form it. The clerk was ordered to create a country
seat, that would include a body of water, boat on the lake and
town on the bank. The county seat was changed from Kampeska to
Kampeska City, and then changed in 1878 to Watertown; with the
first election held in June of 1880. The Transit Railroad
Company came to Watertown in 1857, and this new change helped
the town grow and become more important in the region. The
Chamber of Commerce was started in 1883, and there were many
established businesses and a "good progressive class of
immigration". It is the second biggest county west of Minnesota,
and two marvelous lakes are located there. The biggest, Lake
Kampeska, is two miles wide and six miles long, and believed to
be one of the most spectacular lakes in the northwest. Lake
Pelican is about three miles southeast and it is five miles long
and a mile wide, covering some 3000 acres.
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Bramble Park Zoo
The zoo was started in 1912,
when Frank Bramble gave the city council his collection of
waterfowl and pheasants for exhibiting. This was moved in 1940,
where the WPA had built new habitats for the animals that soon
became the center of the zoo. As the years passed, and the
collection grew, it became increasingly obvious that the
confines of the building didn't have enough room for all its
growth. The Lake Area Zoological Society was started, in 1972,
so that it could help with the professionalism and development
of the zoo. Starting in 1976, the zoo would be involved in a lot
of reconstruction inside the building and also on the outside.
With a strong sense of community and pride, the residents have
volunteered time, materials and energy into building new
habitats, more support structures and making the viewing areas
better. With the new improvements, and the hiring of
professional staff members, the zoo was accredited by the AZA in
1993, and it still is trying to improve and grow the collection,
educate, be involved in Species Survival Programs, enlarge its
conservation efforts and increase and diversify its financial
help. To this end, the city voted for funds to buy more land,
and in 1995, they received money to increase and renovate the
bird building. The funds also helped purchase a prairie plant
exhibit, observational beehive display, a demonstration stage,
black-footed ferret showcase and interpretive prairie showcase.
In 1996, the zoo received a grant, and with the money from the
city was able to improve the animal holding structures, and hire
a full time educator. The city and LAZS were able to obtain
enough funds for the building of an 8000 foot front entry way
and discovery center, that holds a gift shop, bathrooms,
educational displays, concession area, classroom, offices and
educational displays. More funds were received to overlay the
walkways, update the kitchen, build more rehab habitats for
birds of prey and buy two pickup trucks. In 1998, they received
$200,000 for building the discovery center and a bigger parking
lot, with all the landscaping included. That year and the
following, almost $300,000 was received for the upgrades of the
primate exhibits, walkways, and upgrade many exhibits to a top
quality status. In 2001, $70,000 was received for a better
ventilation system, creating a new bison overlook, repair the
netting on the bird sanctuary, revitalize the salt water
aquariums and build a black-footed ferret enclave.
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