June 28-29 Sioux Falls, S.D.

    Blue sky and 81 degrees with humidity not bad.  This weekend they had a big storm come through that took away some of the mosquitoes and the heat index of 110 they had at the end of last week-thank you!  A clerk at a gas station said he's a farm boy and his relatives are all worried about their crops because of all the rain.  I wa surprised at the number of small casinos on all the busy streets all over town.
     We drove downtown to find the Sheriff's office to give them those pictures.  Just a few blocks above downtown on a hill is a plainly marked historical district with gorgeous homes and old churches.  Some homes had plaques saying they were built in the 1890's.  One close to the cathedral is now a Knights of Columbus Hall.  The church is St. and Joseph's Cathedral.  One old house had a metal sign by the garage saying Packer Backer Blvd.  Tom dropped me off at a mansion and went back downtown to the Old County Courthouse Museum.  In the late 1890's the building cost $132,000 to build.
    The Pettigrew Mansion - built in 1889.  This museum and the courthouse one are supported by donors, the City and the County so don't charge admission.  Mr. Pettigrew was a surveyor and eventually a Realtor and developer.  There was a picture of a lady holding a sign with his company name, Pettirew and Tate, and her dress had words written all over it:  farmland, commercial properties, city lots, businesses.  He eventually platted 16 residential areas in town and was instrumental in getting many people to build and invest in Sioux Falls.
    He was a business associate of Mr. Tiffany and has a beautiful Tiffany chandelier in one room.  Many of the lower floor rooms had pocket doors.  Each room had a different type of wood paneling (all imported since there was little wood in this area then).  So the doors were made of different woods on each side, to match the walls.