Member Museums
AKTA Lakota Museum and Cultural CenterChamberlain, South Dakota 57325 Our museum is a tribute to the Sioux nation and offers visitors a rare and fascinating glimpse into the Lakota culture. Since the museum's opening in 1991, thousands of people worldwide have been captivated by the unparalleled style, scale and richness of the facility and its displays of Lakota life — both past and present. Visitors are taken on a visual journey through the proud history and heritage of the Sioux Nation and into the excitement of contemporary Sioux art. Museum highlights include interactive displays, an audio/visual observation area, and a 36-foot diorama by renowned artist Tom Phillips. The gift shop offers original sculptures, paintings, and traditional crafts. |
Brandon Historical SocietyBrandon, South Dakota 57005 Documenting the history of Brandon, SD and the surrounding area. In the 1916 Brandon School with four rooms. |
Buechel Memorial Lakota MuseumSt. Francis, South Dakota 57572 The many unique artifacts demonstrate the Mission's enduring respect for the traditions, culture, and history of the Lakota of the Rosebud Reservation. Gift shop with items from local vendors. |
Campbell Straw Bale Built MuseumCarthage, South Dakota 57323 Campbell Straw Bale Museum is a unique building--stucco with inner walls of straw, using corn as fuel. The interior is rustic in appearance, compatible with the exhibits inside. Building is "green" built. |
Center for Western StudiesSioux Falls, SD 57197 The mission of the Center for Western Studies at Augustana College is preserving and interpreting the history and cultures of the Northern Plains. The Center serves as a repository for over 500 substantive collections and maintains a library in excess of 36,000 volumes on the American West. In addition, the Center holds an extensive art and artifact collection and sponsors annual events such as the Boe Forum, the June Dinner Theater Event, the Dakota Conference, and the Artists of the Plains Art Show. With more than 70 publications to its credit, the Center is the largest academic publisher in South Dakota. |
Charles Mix County Historical Restoration SocietyGeddes, South Dakota 57342 We have a Historic Village with historical buildings over 100 years old. Log cabin, rural schoolhouse, original chairs, and Peter Norbeck boyhood home alon with 2 museums displaying local memorabilia, Native American and pioneer. |
Clay County Historical SocietyVermillion, South Dakota 57069 The Austin-Whittemore House was built in 1882. Visit a restored Victorian Home with period furnishings; local history displays; tours welcome with advanced notice; candlelight tours of home first Friday in December. |
Dakota Discovery MuseumMitchell, South Dakota 57301 A five-building museum complex, the Randall building houses the Middle Border Art Gallery, the Oscar Howe Art Gallery, the Case Dakota Art Gallery, the Charles Hargens Studio & Gallery and two changing gallery spaces. The Complex also includes the 1886 Italianate Beckwith House, 1885 Sheldon School, 1908 Farwell Church & 1914 Dimock Depot |
Dakota Territorial MuseumYankton, South Dakota 57078 The Museum houses interesting and unique pieces associated with the Territorial Period and beyond. Outbuildings include a restored one-room schoolhouse and an 1892 Great Northern Rail Depot. Also featured is an extensive collection of fishing reels and outboard motors. Operated by Yankton County Historical Society. |
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Dell Rapids Society For Historical Preservation Dell Rapids, South Dakota 57022 We collect, preserve, exhibit and publish material for the study of history, particularly the history of Dell Rapids and adjacent areas; to acquire documents, letters, reports, newspapers, books, pictures, and relics pertaining to the area; and to obtain narratives of pioneers. Historic Dieson Building has been restored to original grandeur. Houses collection of artifacts retaining to history of Dell Rapids and area. |
Dunham Historical SocietyWessington Springs, South Dakota 57382 Jerauld County Pioneer Museum consists of four buildings. The main building, the Heritage Center, contains memorabilia and print information relating to the history of Jerauld County and its immediate area. There are seven rooms of artifacts and archives area which houses genealogy information, historical records of the county, the townships, and the towns of Alpena, Lane and Wessington Springs. Other buildings include the one-room rural school, a blacksmith shop,containing a forge and many hand-made tools, and the Dean Annex, a former country doctor's clinic. The Museum is sponsored and maintained by the Dunham Historical Society. |
Eide/Dalrymple Art GallerySioux Falls, South Dakota 57197 Located in the new Visual Arts Center on the Augustana College Campus, the gallery features changing exhibits by professional regional artists, as well as student shows and occasional ethnographic exhibits. The gallery also houses a permanent collection of signed original prints and ethnographic art. |
Garretson Area Historical SocietyGarretson, South Dakota 57030 An area Museum with local historical items from local businessmen and farm area. Our aim is to continue having the organization provide the local area of past history into the future. |
Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum of Natural HistorySioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 As an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), the Great Plains Zoo features over 850 animals from around the world in our 45-acre park. The Delbridge Museum of Natural History features an impressive collection of mounted animals from five continents displayed in simulated natural evironments. The initial Zoo in Sioux Falls was developed in the 1880’s by Senator Richard F. Pettigrew who housed a few specimens of animals for viewing in the local parks around Sioux Falls, with the largest group being housed at McKennan Park. In 1930, the Sioux Falls Parks systems assumed responsibility for zoo development and added additional specimens for permanent display in Sherman Park, just south of the zoo’s present location. |
Heritage Hall Museum & ArchivesFreeman, South Dakota 57029 Heritage Hall Museum features Plains Indian Artifacts of the 19th century and the history of pioneer settlers and early life in South Dakota. The museum has the largest privately owned Indian artifact exhibit in the state of South Dakota, with over 450 original artifacts. Other highlights include a 1927 Lincoln-Page Bi-plane, a large wildlife display, pioneer tools and farm machinery, rare motorcycles, historic churches and a rural school, musical instruments, a toy collection, and an archive of over 10,000 items. The Freeman Museum & Archives is dedicated to the preservation of rare articles used by our ancestors on the way to our standard of living today. It is our desire to leave a record for our children's children to understand and learn from their ancestors. |
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Lennox Area Historical Society Lennox, South Dakota A 3-story brick building formerly a hospital. We have many artifacts, articles, item donated by local residents that have relevance to our area |
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Little Village Farm Museum Dell Rapids, South Dakota 57022 Restored 50’ Round Barn, 30’x40’ Loft Barn, 28’ x 26’ barn, 36’ round chicken barn, 42-6 sided chicken barn, 16-sided building, all buildings full of agri-related, home-related materials from 1860 to 1940.On historical register. Area for lunches, family gatherings, parties available. |
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Loriks Peterson Heritage House Oldham, South Dakota 57051 The Loriks-Peterson Heritage House is on the National Register of Historical Places. The home was built by Pete Peterson in 1909 and purchased by Emil Loriks in 1976. The museum was dedicated on July 4, 1976. |
Miner County Historical SocietyHoward, South Dakota 57349 The museum tells the story of the Miner County area from pre-Louiana Purchase days to the present, covering bits of geology, Native Americans, discovery, homesteading, railroads, farming, government, education, electricity, the Great Depression, World Wars, business development, and more. The society was started in 1984 with a small museum. Deteriorating conditions forced its closing in 2000. Today we operate as a Rural Life Museum on Main St. in Howard depicting rural life in Miner County. |
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Moody County Historical Society Flandreau, South Dakota 57028 The Main building contains displays of early Moody County items and houses family history files. We have many Native American files, over 2500 photos. Other buildings are and early Mission Church, rural school and railroad depot. |
National Music MuseumVermillion, South Dakota 57069 Founded in 1973 on the campus of The University of South Dakota in Vermillion, the National Music Museum & Center for Study of the History of Musical Instruments is one of the great institutions of its kind in the world. Its renowned collections, which include more than 10,000 American, European, and non-Western instruments from virtually all cultures and historical periods, are the most inclusive anywhere. |
Outdoor CampusSioux Falls, South Dakota 57106 The Outdoor Campus is a great place to get acquainted with South Dakota's natural amenitites via the campus' huge stream-bank aquarium or its ongoing classes on fishing, hunting, canoeing and camping. The Outdoor Campus is a joint project of the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks and the City of Sioux Falls Parks & Recreation Department. |
Pettigrew Home & MuseumSioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 The Pettigrew Home & Museum has been featured in Smithsonian Institution and National Geographic publications. Its detailed woodwork, silk damask wall coverings, jeweled glass windows, and authentic furnishings provide a peek into the life of a turn of the century political family. |
Scouter's Attic / Sioux Council Scout MuseumSioux Falls , South Dakota 57104 Extremely diverse and extensive collection of uniforms, equipment, manuals and photographs capturing the history of the Boy Scouts of America since its founding in 1910. |
Sioux Empire Medical MuseumSioux Falls, South Dakota 57117 A diverse collection of medical history provides new appreciation for today's medical care. Exhibits include an Iron Lung and past examples of a patient room, pediatrics area and nursery, and a surgery center. |
Siouxland Heritage Museums / Old Courthouse MuseumSioux Falls, South Dakota 57104 Completed in 1893 with a landmark clock tower, this beautifully restored quartzite building features three floors of regional history exhibits. Visitors can tour the exhibits and explore the building's grand courtroom, elegant law library, hallway murals, and more. |
South Dakota Tractor MuseumKimball, South Dakota 57355 Providing guided tours of restored historic tractors, farm machinery, windmill, buggies, one-room schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, antique cars, historic tools, early 1900 household furniture. Gift shop available. Bus tours welcome. |
Springfield College MuseumSpringfield, South Dakota 57062 A museum housing memorabilia from the college that was located in Springfield from 1896 to 1984. |
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Springfield Historical Society Springfield, South Dakota 57104 The Springfield Historical Society Museum displays a large variety and an accurate collection of the community's history. Some of the features you will see at the museum are: Collection of Antique Horse-drawn Farm Machinery; Dental Office 1910 X-ray Machine; St. Mary's School for Indian Girls artifacts; Model Main Street; and Largest Collection of Sea Shells in the Midwest, more than 5000 Shells from All Over the World. |
Union County Historical SocietyElk Point, South Dakota 57025 The mission of the Union County Historical Society is to develop an understanding, to preserve and to further an appreciation of the history of Union County, South Dakota. The Main Floor & Basement contain County oriented genealogy artifacts and Lewis & Clark displays. A large Indian doll collection, women's clothing, and a horned chair are some of the highlights. A newsletter is sent to Members quarterly detailing history and current events. Membership is $27.00 per family or $16.00 per individual |
W.H. Over MuseumVermillion, South Dakota 57069 Preserving and interpreting the heritage of South Dakota and its people is the Museum's mission. Founded in 1883, the Museum began as a study collection in the natural sciences at what is now the University of South Dakota . This is the state's largest collection of natural and cultural history. Hands-on natural history 'Discovery Room'. Stanley Morrow photographs of territorial days. Many animal mounts, historic firearms, Dakota Heritage Garden Gift Shop, library, and traveling exhibits. Also features David and Elizabeth Clark Memorial Collection of Sioux Indian Material. |