Mitchell, South Dakota
Encyclopedia
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 14,558 people, 6,121 households, and 3,599 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,475.7 people per square mile (569.5/km²). There were 6,555 housing units at an average density of 664.4 per square mile (256.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.63% White, 0.32% African American, 2.40% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.87% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.77% of the population.
There were 6,121 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.2% were non-families. 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.95.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 13.4% from 18 to 24, 25.3% from 25 to 44, 19.6% from 45 to 64, and 17.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.4 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $31,308, and the median income for a family was $43,095. Males had a median income of $30,881 versus $20,794 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $17,888. About 8.8% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.7% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.
The campus of Dakota Wesleyan University
Dakota Wesleyan University
Dakota Wesleyan University is a four-year university located in Mitchell, South Dakota, founded in 1885, that is affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The student body averages slightly less than 800 students...
is located in southwest Mitchell.
Attractions
Mitchell is home of the Corn PalaceCorn Palace
The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. It is a popular tourist destination, visited by more than 500,000 people each year. The Moorish Revival building is decorated with Crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and...
. The Corn Palace is decorated with several colors of dried corn and grains, creating murals. The theme of the external murals is changed yearly at fall harvest; internal murals are changed approximately every ten years. The building itself is used for several purposes including a basketball arena, the local high school prom, trade shows, staged entertainment, and the Shriner's Circus.
Mitchell is also the home of the Dakota Discovery Museum, whose mission is to present and preserve the history of the prairie and the people who settled it. The museum covers the time period from 1600, when the Native Americans were still largely undiscovered, to 1939, the end of the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. The museum is of a caliber not often found in small mid-western towns, and holds one of the most complete and pristine collections of American Indian quill and bead-works. The Dakota Discovery Museum also features famous artists such as Harvey Dunn
Harvey Dunn
Harvey Thomas Dunn was an American painter. He is best known for his prairie-intimate masterpiece, The Prairie is My Garden. In this painting, a mother and her son and daughter are out gathering flowers from the quintessential prairie of the Great Plains.-Early life:Dunn was born on a homestead...
, James Earle Fraser, Charles Hargens
Charles Hargens
Charles Hargens painted covers for The Saturday Evening Post, Colliers, Country Gentleman, Farm Journal, Boy's Life, The Open Road for Boys and 300 books, including the Zane Grey Western novels of the 1930s and 1940s. His work is similar to that of Frederic Remington...
and Oscar Howe
Oscar Howe
Oscar Howe was an American artist from South Dakota, who became well known for his casein paintings.-Early life and education:...
. In the village area behind the main building are four authentic historical buildings, including an 1885 one-room school house and the fully furnished 1886 Victorian-Italianate home of the co-founder of the Corn Palace, Louis Beckwith. Two new features of the museum are Discovery Land, a hands-on activity area for children ages five to ten, and the Heritage Gardens Project, which brings indigenous plants to the gardens surrounding the museum and historical buildings.
The Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, an archaeological site where scientists are excavating a Native American village, is another attraction in the city. The site, near Lake Mitchell, is believed to have been occupied by ancestors of the present-day Mandan, who now reside in North Dakota
North Dakota
North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....
. The excavation is unique in that it is enclosed by an Archeodome, a climate-controlled building built over the site, which allows scientists to continue their excavation work year-round.
The Mitchell area also boasts several state champion trees: Black Cherry, Black Locust
Black locust
Robinia pseudoacacia, commonly known as the Black Locust, is a tree in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. It is native to the southeastern United States, but has been widely planted and naturalized elsewhere in temperate North America, Europe, Southern Africa and Asia and is...
, Siberian Elm
Siberian Elm
Ulmus pumila, the Siberian Elm, is native to Central Asia, eastern Siberia, Mongolia, Xizang , northern China, India and Korea . It is also known as the Asiatic Elm, Dwarf Elm and Chinese Elm. Two varieties are recognized: var pumila and var. arborea, the latter known as Turkestan elm...
, and Tulip Tree.
Sports
The South Dakota GoldSouth Dakota Gold
The South Dakota Gold was a professional basketball club based in Mitchell, South Dakota that competed in the International Basketball Association beginning in the 2000-2001 season. The team folded when the IBA merged with the CBA following the 2000-2001 season....
was a professional basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
club that competed in the International Basketball Association
International Basketball Association
The International Basketball Association was founded by Alexandria, Minnesota entrepreneur Thomas Anderson in 1995. Anderson traveled the Upper Midwest searching for franchise owners for a couple of years before the league began play with five teams in the 1995-1996 season...
in the 2000-01 season.
Notable natives
- Ordell BraaseOrdell BraaseOrdell Wayne Braase is a retired American football defensive end in the National Football League. He played with the Baltimore Colts throughout his career...
, former NFL player and broadcaster - John Bailey JonesJohn Bailey JonesJohn Bailey Jones is a United States federal judge.Born in Mitchell, South Dakota, Jones was in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1945 to 1947. He received a B.S. from the University of South Dakota in 1951 and an LL.B. from the University of South Dakota School of Law in 1953. He was in private...
, retired United States federal judgeUnited States federal judgeIn the United States, the title of federal judge usually means a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article II of the United States Constitution.... - Michael (Mike) Lloyd Miller was born and raised in Mitchell and is an American professional basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player, was 2000-01 NBA Rookie of the Year, 2005-06 NBA Sixth Man of the Year AwardNBA Sixth Man of the Year AwardThe National Basketball Association's Sixth Man of the Year Award is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1982–83 NBA season to the league's most valuable player for his team coming off the bench as a substitute . A panel of sportswriters and broadcasters from throughout...
winner, and is currently a member of the NBANational Basketball AssociationThe National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
's Miami HeatMiami HeatThe Miami Heat is a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. The team is a member of the Southeast Division in the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association . They play their home games at American Airlines Arena in Downtown Miami...
. - George McGovernGeorge McGovernGeorge Stanley McGovern is an historian, author, and former U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the Democratic Party nominee in the 1972 presidential election....
, former RepresentativeUnited States House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
and SenatorUnited States SenateThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
from South Dakota and 1972 DemocraticDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
nominee for PresidentPresident of the United StatesThe President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
, grew up in Mitchell, and still lives there. - Adam MorrisonAdam MorrisonAdam John Morrison is an American basketball player who is currently free agent after being released from KK Crvena zvezda....
, current basketballBasketballBasketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
player for the Charlotte BobcatsCharlotte BobcatsThe Charlotte Bobcats is a professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Basketball Association. The Bobcats were established in 2004 as an expansion team, two seasons after Charlotte's previous NBA...
, briefly lived in Mitchell as a young child while his father was coaching at Dakota Wesleyan. - Gary OwensGary OwensGary Owens is an American disc jockey and voice actor. His polished baritone speaking voice generally offers deadpan recitations of total nonsense, which he frequently demonstrated as the announcer on Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In. Owens is equally proficient in straight or silly assignments and is...
, voice actor and Disc Jockey - Jared ReinerJared ReinerJared Thomas Reiner is an American professional basketball player.-Early years:Jared was born in Mitchell, SD on April 8, 1982 and was raised in the town of Tripp, South Dakota, population 804...
former NBA player, now playing basketball professionally in Europe.
External links
- Mitchell, SD government website
- Mitchell Daily Republic - Local newspaper
- Corn Palace Convention & Visitors Bureau - Corn Palace and Mitchell visiting information
- Corn Palace Festival - Annual music festival held at the Corn Palace
- Resurgam Lodge #31, A.F. & A.M. - Freemasons and affiliated bodies in Mitchell, SD
- Mitchell Congregational United Church of Christ - A God is Still Speaking and Open & Affirming Congregation