Sioux City Corn Palaces

From 1887 to 1891, Sioux Cityans celebrated the autumn harvest with a festival featuring the construction of a large building in downtown called a Corn Palace covered in corn and other grains. Besides having the distinction of constructing the “World’s First Corn Palace,” the festivals hosted well-known entertainers and even the sitting president of the United States.

A terrible flood in May of 1892 set the planning for a Corn Palace on the back burner. A Corn Palace festival for 1893 was expected, but a national depression doomed the idea for that year and beyond.

Although the festivals were short-lived, they are still remembered because of the excellent print and photographic collections at the Sioux City Public Museum.

As one reporter/attendee of the 1891 Corn Palace, J. R. Kathrens wrote years later:

“Thus came to a close the fifth 
and last Corn Palace.
We made happy 75,000 visitors
And then it was over.
Like the dew on the mountain,
Like the foam on the beer,
Like the bubble on the fountain
Thou art gone, and forever.”

Explore all of Sioux City’s Corn Palaces here.

The first Sioux City Corn Palace in 1887

The last Sioux City Corn Palace in 1891