Mitchell, South Dakota

==Attractions==
[[File:City Hall, Mitchell SD (8115365404).jpg|thumb|Mitchell City Hall]]
Mitchell is home of the [[Corn Palace]]. The Corn Palace is decorated with several colors of dried corn and grains, creating murals. The theme of the external murals is changed yearly at fall harvest; internal murals are changed approximately every ten years. The building itself is used for several purposes including a basketball arena, the local high school prom, trade shows, staged entertainment, and the Shriner's Circus.

[[Image:Mitchell corn palace.jpg|thumb|left|Street view of the Corn Palace]]

Mitchell is also the home of the [[Dakota Discovery Museum]], whose mission is to present and preserve the history of the prairie and the people who settled it.  The museum covers the time period from 1600, when the Native Americans were still largely undiscovered, to 1939, the end of the [[Great Depression]].  The museum holds one of the most complete and pristine collections of American Indian quill and bead-works.  The Dakota Discovery Museum also features artists such as [[Harvey Dunn]], [[James Earle Fraser (sculptor)|James Earle Fraser]], [[Charles Hargens]] and [[Oscar Howe]].  In the village area behind the main building are four authentic historical buildings, including an 1885 one-room school house and the fully furnished 1886 Victorian-Italianate home of the co-founder of the Corn Palace, Louis Beckwith.  Two new features of the museum are Discovery Land, a hands-on activity area for children ages five to ten, and the Heritage Gardens Project, which brings indigenous plants to the gardens surrounding the museum and historical buildings.

The [http://www.mitchellindianvillage.org/ Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village], [[Mitchell Site|an archaeological site]] where scientists are excavating a Native American village, is another attraction in the city. The site, near Lake Mitchell, is believed to have been occupied by ancestors of the present-day [[Mandan]], who now reside in [[North Dakota]].  The excavation is unique in that it is enclosed by an Archeodome, a climate-controlled building built over the site, which allows scientists to continue their excavation work year-round.

The Mitchell area also boasts several state [[champion tree]]s: [[Prunus serotina|Black Cherry]], [[Black Locust]], [[Siberian Elm]], and [[Tulip Tree]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sdda.sd.gov/conservation-forestry/big-tree-register/current-list/|title=SDDA - File Not Found|website=sdda.sd.gov|access-date=6 April 2018}}</ref>

Mitchell was featured in the seventeenth episode of the Small Town News Podcast, an improv comedy podcast that takes listeners on a fun and silly virtual trip to a small town in America each week, in which the hosts improvise scenes inspired by local newspaper stories.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.buzzsprout.com/1011646 | title=Small Town News }}</ref>