| Dust
storms, drought, grasshoppers, crop failures,
and severe winters added to the miseries of
economic disaster in the Dirty Thirties. Wall
was truly the "geographic center of
nowhere". But fate hadn't reckoned with the
intuitiveness of the Husteads. Dorothy conceived
the idea that many a hot, dusty traveler would
welcome a drink of ice water from the Wall Drug
well, but they had to let the people heading to
Mount Rushmore and Yellowstone know that they
were there. The first signs popped up on Highway
16, and suddenly, a sleepy little prairie town
became the stopping-off place for travelers
across South Dakota. Those first signs worked so
well that Ted put up more all over his own state
and into Minnesota and Wyoming. The Ice Water
Store was born.
In 1951, Ted and
Dorothy's son Bill joined them in the business.
Bill had the vision to create the family
attraction that Wall Drug is today, a 76,000
square foot western wonderland that is enjoyed
by 20,000 visitors each day during the summer
season, from all over the world. The store has
something for the most sophisticated as well as
the children, with a world class collection of
Western art, over 1400 historical photographs,
beautiful, black walnut paneled dining rooms, a
Travelers Chapel, Native America Artifacts,
animated attractions, giant T-Rex, a six foot
rabbit and giant jackalope and shopping
opportunities galore.
Reprinted from www.walldrug.com |
