8 Weird Facts About South Dakota History You Won T Believe

There is no arguing that South Dakota is an incredible state with a fascinating history, but did you know that part of our history is – dare we say – downright nuts? From unbelievable laws to questionable practices, there are several aspects of South Dakota history you may have never learned about or read in state history books, including the following weird facts about South Dakota you’re sure to enjoy:

Starting with one of the silliest laws that you won’t find in history books: it is illegal to fall asleep in a cheese factory.

Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr But, sleep in your car (when you aren’t driving, of course)? Yes, that’s fine. Up in a tree? No prob. In a cheese factory? No thank you, you are going to JAIL.

You are also prohibited from allowing your horse into Fountain Inn without pants.

Ryan C/Flickr It is a dignified place, after all.

You know that Mount Rushmore took 14 years and more than one million dollars to build, but do you know what that would amount to today?

Jay Gannett/Flickr In this day and age, a million dollars doesn’t seem like a whole lot (especially when you are building a monument or structure of any sort), but when you factor in inflation (from 1941 to 2019), it comes to a whopping $17,421,224.49.

With a record-breaking 244,000 acres, the Badlands contains one of the richest fossil beds in the world!

Jim Bauer/Flickr Want to learn more about this geographic wonder? You’re invited to read more about this amazing hiking trail in South Dakota!

Images from space are processed right here in South Dakota!

Underway in Ireland/Flickr All of the pictures taken from the Landsat satellites are processed at the US Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Data Center, near Sioux Falls. Do you want to get an even better look at this data center? You’re in luck, as guided tours are offered Monday through Friday.

If you watched Chernobyl, you may feel a little uneasy by the fact that the Flaming Fountain on South Dakota State Capitol Lake is fed by a natural gas-infused artesian well.

Robert S/TripAdvisor No need to worry, folks, as the natural gas only makes it glow (and will not wipe out the entire area, as it did in the factory accident)!

South Dakota is home to the country’s largest music festival.

Justin Van Rheenen/Flickr Don’t worry; this event isn’t nearly as rowdy as Coachella. It is the Christian music LifeLight Festival, which welcomes nearly 350,000 attendees every year.

Finally, the Homestake Mine in Lead was so rich in gold that it was, at one time, the largest mine in the country.

Rachel Harris/Wikimedia Even crazier is that Homestake originally opened in the late 1800s and didn’t close until 2002!

Did any of these tidbits come as a surprise to you? Do you know of any other weird facts about South Dakota? Let us know in the comments! For even more weird South Dakota history, read up on crazy laws in South Dakota.

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Address: South Dakota, USA

The OIYS Visitor Center

Weird Facts About South Dakota June 02, 2022 Tori Jane What are some fun facts about South Dakota? South Dakota might be an oft-forgotten little place, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its share of fun and odd history and trivia to go around! The Mount Rushmore State is packed full of all sorts of tidbits, like the fact that the population of the entire state is less than one million people (858,469 in 2020, to be exact). Despite its low population, it’s the 19th-largest state in the United States! The state animal is the coyote, and the state mineral (that’s a thing, yes) is rose quartz. It got statehood in 1889, and the state dessert (also a thing!) is the kuchen, which is a type of German cake. Oh, and South Dakota has more miles of shoreline than – get this – Florida. Okay, so what are some scary facts about South Dakota? For every fun fact about South Dakota we know, we also know some not-so-fun, if not downright creepy, facts about South Dakota. With its history comes darkness, too, and South Dakota is thought to be one of the most haunted states in the USA. There are more than 1,300 bison roaming around the state, and bison are dangerous. They might look majestic, but they kill several people every year (usually because those people are doing things like trying to take selfies with the animals). South Dakota is also a very dangerous state weather-wise, as the bitter cold during winter – the lowest temperature ever recorded in South Dakota was an astonishingly frigid –58 degrees Fahrenheit, which is absolutely deadly should you be unprepared. What kind of South Dakota fun facts are there? All sorts! Did you know that South Dakota is home to hundreds of ghost towns that were once teeming with people but are now quiet and dead? And did you know that South Dakota used to be beneath an ocean (which is why you can find all kinds of cool fossils and shells around here to this day)? Then there’s the funny fact that despite Pierre being the capital city, it’s not the largest – that honor goes to Sioux Falls, though Sioux Falls would likely be considered a small town by most standards itself.

Starting with one of the silliest laws that you won’t find in history books: it is illegal to fall asleep in a cheese factory.

Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr But, sleep in your car (when you aren’t driving, of course)? Yes, that’s fine. Up in a tree? No prob. In a cheese factory? No thank you, you are going to JAIL.

You are also prohibited from allowing your horse into Fountain Inn without pants.

Ryan C/Flickr It is a dignified place, after all.

You know that Mount Rushmore took 14 years and more than one million dollars to build, but do you know what that would amount to today?

With a record-breaking 244,000 acres, the Badlands contains one of the richest fossil beds in the world!

Jim Bauer/Flickr Want to learn more about this geographic wonder? You’re invited to read more about this amazing hiking trail in South Dakota!

Images from space are processed right here in South Dakota!

If you watched Chernobyl, you may feel a little uneasy by the fact that the Flaming Fountain on South Dakota State Capitol Lake is fed by a natural gas-infused artesian well.

Robert S/TripAdvisor No need to worry, folks, as the natural gas only makes it glow (and will not wipe out the entire area, as it did in the factory accident)!

South Dakota is home to the country’s largest music festival.

Justin Van Rheenen/Flickr Don’t worry; this event isn’t nearly as rowdy as Coachella. It is the Christian music LifeLight Festival, which welcomes nearly 350,000 attendees every year.

Finally, the Homestake Mine in Lead was so rich in gold that it was, at one time, the largest mine in the country.

Rachel Harris/Wikimedia Even crazier is that Homestake originally opened in the late 1800s and didn’t close until 2002!

Kārlis Dambrāns/Flickr

But, sleep in your car (when you aren’t driving, of course)? Yes, that’s fine. Up in a tree? No prob. In a cheese factory? No thank you, you are going to JAIL.

Ryan C/Flickr

It is a dignified place, after all.

Jay Gannett/Flickr

In this day and age, a million dollars doesn’t seem like a whole lot (especially when you are building a monument or structure of any sort), but when you factor in inflation (from 1941 to 2019), it comes to a whopping $17,421,224.49.

Jim Bauer/Flickr

Want to learn more about this geographic wonder? You’re invited to read more about this amazing hiking trail in South Dakota!

Underway in Ireland/Flickr

All of the pictures taken from the Landsat satellites are processed at the US Geological Survey’s Earth Resources Observation and Science Data Center, near Sioux Falls. Do you want to get an even better look at this data center? You’re in luck, as guided tours are offered Monday through Friday.

Robert S/TripAdvisor

No need to worry, folks, as the natural gas only makes it glow (and will not wipe out the entire area, as it did in the factory accident)!

Justin Van Rheenen/Flickr

Don’t worry; this event isn’t nearly as rowdy as Coachella. It is the Christian music LifeLight Festival, which welcomes nearly 350,000 attendees every year.

Rachel Harris/Wikimedia

Even crazier is that Homestake originally opened in the late 1800s and didn’t close until 2002!

The OIYS Visitor Center

Weird Facts About South Dakota

June 02, 2022

Tori Jane

What are some fun facts about South Dakota? South Dakota might be an oft-forgotten little place, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its share of fun and odd history and trivia to go around! The Mount Rushmore State is packed full of all sorts of tidbits, like the fact that the population of the entire state is less than one million people (858,469 in 2020, to be exact). Despite its low population, it’s the 19th-largest state in the United States! The state animal is the coyote, and the state mineral (that’s a thing, yes) is rose quartz. It got statehood in 1889, and the state dessert (also a thing!) is the kuchen, which is a type of German cake. Oh, and South Dakota has more miles of shoreline than – get this – Florida. Okay, so what are some scary facts about South Dakota? For every fun fact about South Dakota we know, we also know some not-so-fun, if not downright creepy, facts about South Dakota. With its history comes darkness, too, and South Dakota is thought to be one of the most haunted states in the USA. There are more than 1,300 bison roaming around the state, and bison are dangerous. They might look majestic, but they kill several people every year (usually because those people are doing things like trying to take selfies with the animals). South Dakota is also a very dangerous state weather-wise, as the bitter cold during winter – the lowest temperature ever recorded in South Dakota was an astonishingly frigid –58 degrees Fahrenheit, which is absolutely deadly should you be unprepared. What kind of South Dakota fun facts are there? All sorts! Did you know that South Dakota is home to hundreds of ghost towns that were once teeming with people but are now quiet and dead? And did you know that South Dakota used to be beneath an ocean (which is why you can find all kinds of cool fossils and shells around here to this day)? Then there’s the funny fact that despite Pierre being the capital city, it’s not the largest – that honor goes to Sioux Falls, though Sioux Falls would likely be considered a small town by most standards itself.

The OIYS Visitor Center

South Dakota might be an oft-forgotten little place, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have its share of fun and odd history and trivia to go around! The Mount Rushmore State is packed full of all sorts of tidbits, like the fact that the population of the entire state is less than one million people (858,469 in 2020, to be exact). Despite its low population, it’s the 19th-largest state in the United States! The state animal is the coyote, and the state mineral (that’s a thing, yes) is rose quartz. It got statehood in 1889, and the state dessert (also a thing!) is the kuchen, which is a type of German cake. Oh, and South Dakota has more miles of shoreline than – get this – Florida.

Okay, so what are some scary facts about South Dakota?

For every fun fact about South Dakota we know, we also know some not-so-fun, if not downright creepy, facts about South Dakota. With its history comes darkness, too, and South Dakota is thought to be one of the most haunted states in the USA. There are more than 1,300 bison roaming around the state, and bison are dangerous. They might look majestic, but they kill several people every year (usually because those people are doing things like trying to take selfies with the animals). South Dakota is also a very dangerous state weather-wise, as the bitter cold during winter – the lowest temperature ever recorded in South Dakota was an astonishingly frigid –58 degrees Fahrenheit, which is absolutely deadly should you be unprepared.

What kind of South Dakota fun facts are there?

All sorts! Did you know that South Dakota is home to hundreds of ghost towns that were once teeming with people but are now quiet and dead? And did you know that South Dakota used to be beneath an ocean (which is why you can find all kinds of cool fossils and shells around here to this day)? Then there’s the funny fact that despite Pierre being the capital city, it’s not the largest – that honor goes to Sioux Falls, though Sioux Falls would likely be considered a small town by most standards itself.