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Wisconsin Pottery Association
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Spring Antiquing in Eastern South Dakota
The following article appeared the WPA Press, Vol. 5, June 2000
During a May visit to see family in eastern South Dakota, I had a free half day to visit a few antique malls. While mine was far from an exhaustive excursion, I can tell you of a few locations along I-29 that you might like to include in your antiquing travels. I stopped in the small town of Dell Rapids at Our Olde House, on Historic Main St. (which is the highway through town). Did you know that there are “dells” on the Big Sioux River? There are and these dells are the site on which Dell Rapids was built.
Main St. has some lovely old buildings and Our Olde House inhabits one of them. I saw a varied selection, from FireKing to Red Wing, and enjoyed conversing with the proprietors about antiquing, Great Plains style. One treat at Our Olde House is that you can have a homemade lunch right there in the dining room/ backporch, where they feature a small restaurant. To be honest, the smell of lunch simmering on the stove was quite a distraction for this shopper.
If you continue south on I-29 to Sioux Falls (yes, still on the Big Sioux River) don’t miss a shopping trip to Proud Panda antiques on 10th Street. This large, newer mall has two levels of booths and a little bit of everything, all very neatly displayed. Sioux Falls has at least a half dozen antique shops — the folks at Proud Panda are happy to direct you to the other locations.
Finally, if you continue south on I- 29 you’ll arrive at Canton, SD. Working to become a major antiquing destination, Canton is also a small town, but boasts a mixture of antique and craft shops. I have not been there, but if you get to Sioux Falls, you’ll want to drive the additional 30–40 miles and visit the antique shops of Canton.
Kari Kenefick, WPA Press