If you have ever traveled through the great state of South Dakota, you have no doubt seen on of the infinite number of signs that call you to Wall Drug, but what is Wall Drug exactly? Wall Drug is a place where those who have been there know, and those who haven’t don’t. It is next to impossible to properly explain it to some one who has never been there, but I am going to try my very best.
Just an hour’s drive east of Rapid City sits a small town named Wall. It is located directly across from the entrance to the Bad Lands national park and it has tourists coming from all over the world because of the Wall Drug Store. It all started in 1931 with a druggist named Ted Hustead and his wife Dorothy. They couple purchased the little drug store with $3,000 he inherited. At first the little drug store on the prairie was having a hard time bringing in customers, and the townsfolk were as a cousin said “flat broke busted”.
The following spring Dorothy came up with an idea that would still stand to this day, give away free ice water to the travelers and advertise it along the highway. Since then the Hustead family has continued to run Wall Drug and expand it to what it is today.
When you first pull into Wall Drug, you feel like you are stepping back in time. The buildings all look like something out of Gun Smoke, with wooden sidewalks and places to tie your horses. One of my favorite things to do in Wall Drug is get there when they first open up in the morning and get a giant cinnamon roll and a five cent coffee. Yes you saw that correctly, only five cents for a cup of coffee and it is some of the best coffee I have ever tasted. My wife usually gets the buffet because you get a mountain of food for an affordable price and she says it’s delicious. After breakfast and a few cups of coffee we like to walk through all of the little stores, most of the stores are al connected together from the inside so if there is still a morning nip in the air you don’t have to get a chill.
While the central drug store is still there and pharmaceuticals can still be purchased, there are so many other items to purchase I would be hard pressed to list them all. You can get boots, hats, leatherwear, souvenirs, black hills gold, toys and many other goodies. As you are walking through the halls there are plenty of fun things to stop and stare at. One of my earliest memories of Wall from being there as a little boy are the wooden figures that are all around. Some are seated on the benches, some are standing around. Some that spring into my head are Wild Bill, Poker Alice, The Native Warrior hold the big buffalo skull, Annie Oakley, the show girl and the old prospector. Others, are set up involved in poker games and other various scenes.
Wall drug is also home to a few dinosaurs. There is an 80 foot brontosaurs which sits out side just to make sure you don’t miss it, and a T –Rex that comes to life every few minutes in the Wall Drug Back Yard. Some of the other attractions in the Back Yard include the six-foot Jackalope, gold panning, and a few other fun spots for the kids, and the kid in all of us. That is one of my favorite things about Wall Drug, every time I go there I feel like I am eight years old again and it is my first time there.
It is one attraction I definitely recommend you check out, oh yeah…don’t forget your free ice water.
