Back in Time, July 20 – Mitchell Republic

Here you see the 1905 Corn Palace being decorated. The Corn Palace was demolished in June 1905 at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Main Street and a new one was built on the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Main Street. The increasing number of visitors each year created a need for a larger building. No contractor wanted to do the job, so Dr. B.F. Dundas, a relative newcomer to Mitchell, took charge personally and hired people as day laborers. The new 125 by 145 foot building was completed in 55 days after the cornerstone was laid. With the new palace came a new name for the festival: the Corn Belt Exposition became the Corn Palace Festival. Governor S.H. Elrod gave the opening address. An Italian band, Sorrentino’s Banda Rossa, was the entertainment for the week, while the free acts outside consisted mainly of acrobatic acts.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under the name “Mitchell Republic.” Often, the name “Mitchell Republic” is used when rewriting basic news stories that come from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and require little or no reporting. Sometimes this name is used when a news story has multiple authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from several sources. If outside sources are used, this is noted in the story.