June 23, 2025. Pierre, South Dakota.
While the city was named after a colonial Frenchman who built Fort Pierre across the Missouri River, and it is spelled the French way, the city is pronounced “PEER.” The city itself is worth a visit, as the Missouri River flows through and around the area making for some beautiful scenery. It may not have some of the amenities of a large city, but our campground was in a beautiful location and there are a lot of parks and walkways along the river (picture at the end). The population of Pierre is less than 15,000 (South Dakota only has a million people total).
We had our two oldest granddaughters with us during this visit, as we were on a summer road trip to the Badlands. The Capitol didn’t have any volunteers this week, so we did the self-guided tour. Every State Capitol we visit has some unique features worth mentioning, like the one in the caption below. No wonder some people like living here!
This is the first Capitol thus far that allowed us to stamp our own book. They tend to be pretty protective of those stamps! Yet, South Dakota had two different places where you could stamp your own. The picture on the right is in the governor’s office. The girls kept stamping the back of their guide books every chance they got.
Something special the girls spotted was the display of the first lady dresses. (And now there is a first gentleman’s tuxedo, as their current governor is a woman.) This special display is always my favorite as well. Paige liked the slim dress while Alison picked a dress that looks like a quinceañera gown. We talked about that in the truck later. She said she had not heard of this before, but since her mother is Mexican we assume she will have a quinceañera celebration when she turns 15.
Inside the rotunda Yoda (his name for grandpa 🤦♀️) continues the tour.
over the grand staircase.
House and Senate. During the construction of the building in 1910, the House and Senate were each given the same amount of money with which to furnish and decorate their respective chambers. Because the Senate has fewer members, they were able to afford more lush wall treatments and furnishings, including marble wainscotting and cherry wood accents. To match wood tones between the two areas, thanks to the superior craftsmanship of the carpenters, the Senate doors are cherry on the interior and oak on the exterior.
What is it with kids and stairs? They loved jumping from the second step, as we were preparing to leave the building.
Per legend, 66 blue signature stones – each representing a capitol Italian terrazzo artist – are laid in flooring. We didn’t see even one of them, or maybe we saw them but didn’t realize they were special.
Credit goes to the guide book for the wonderful information about the Capitol included in this blog.
Great day at the State Capitol of South Dakota!
À la prochaine…hasta la próxima vez…until next time!