Distinctive Destinations
Distinctive Destinations
Old Courthouse Museum
Visit Old Courthouse Museum
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Make time for history at the Old Courthouse Museum! This beautifully restored, 1800s-era quartzite building includes three floors of regional history exhibits. The Museum store features unique and affordable Dakota-made gifts for the whole family.
Designed by local Sioux Falls architect Wallace L. Dow, the first Minnehaha County Courthouse was claimed the "largest courthouse between Chicago and Denver" upon its completion in 1893. Constructed of native Sioux Quartzite stone, a popular building material of the time, the interior of the courthouse features stained glass windows, granite pillars, and a series of 16 large murals depicting early life in Dakota by Norwegian painter Ole Running. After it became too small for use as a court in 1962, the courthouse was marked for demolition. Concerned citizens campaigned to save the building and, in 1974, it was converted into a museum.
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