Carpenter Hotel (Carpenter Building)
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Built in 1912 by Frances G. Carpenter, the widow of Sioux Falls land developer and stockyards investor, C.C. Carpenter, the building has provided first class accommodations to guests that ranged from farmers and their wives to celebrities and Royal dignitaries. The hotel later housed soldiers during WWII, operated as a college dormitory and was home to KSOO radio station. From its inception, as it does today, it boasts of its luxury, and of its fireproof nature.
Images
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
The hotel's arrival coincided with a steady increase in Sioux Falls population, much it due to the opening of the John Morrell Meatpacking plant in 1909. From 1900 to 1920, Sioux Falls population rose from a little more than 10,000 to roughly 25,200, much of that from 1910 to 1920 when Sioux Falls boasted of a more than 75% population increase.
Sources
"History of the Carpenter Building." The Carpenter. Accessed January 17, 2018. http://www.thecarpenterbuilding.com/history/.
Staggers, Kermit L. "Sioux Falls, South Dakota." Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. Accessed January 18, 2018. http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ct.048
Picture Sources
Carpenter, when owned by Sheraton: https://i.pinimg.com/236x/46/96/bb/4696bb70ad00ac508b30e88f0a464700--wedding-greetings-the-carpenter...
Early twentieth-century picture: http://www.thecarpenterbuilding.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/CARPENTER-RESIZED-768x1085.jpg, via The Carpenter Building website
Street Fest, Modern Sioux Falls: Photo found at http://www.thecarpenterbuilding.com
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Note: PDF archive of photos located at the National Register of Historic Places at https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/6df9fbb7-5d3c-4af8-b7d0-728bb230c145
Other photos can be found on Flickr.com: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dickjohnson/37662030761 (Photos taken by Richard Johnson, all rights reserved)