eyes


Falls Park

August 2001



Falls Park with the Big Sioux River going through it.

Falls Park in Sioux Falls, SD is on the Big Sioux River has been a focus of life in the region through history. Indians were the first to visit the falls and bring stories of them to European explorers. They have been the focus of recreation and industry since the founding of the city of Sioux Falls in 1856. Today the park covers 42 acres. Each second, an average of 7,400 gallons of water drop 100 feet over the course of the falls. there is a lazar and light show every night after twilight, sponsored by wells Fargo Bank. The Morrell meat packing factory is just north of the park and when the wind is blowing south the smell is awesome.. yuck...

eyes


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Falls Park past the bridge.

The main falls from the bridge.

The water fall below the bridge.

Pool below the bridge.

The buffalo hunter scored.

They call these gophers!! They look like a chipmunk but are skinny like a snake.

The pictures below of the Sioux Falls Light and Power Company hydroelectric plant was completed in 1908 and housed three 500-kilowatt generators. In subsequent years the plant added additional coal-fired steam generators. The plant was abandoned in 1974.


Power plant builders.

Power plant building from the bridge.

View of Power plant from ground level.

View from the information center.
The other building on the river is the Queen Bee Mill.

Six story information center from where I took a lot of these pictures.

Island in the Big Sioux River.

Close up of the falls.

Another close up of the falls.

This is to cool!.

The rocks are Sioux Quartzite.

Totally awsome.

Nancy dipping her feet.

The remains of the seven-story Queen Bee Mill. Built in the fall of 1887 so the farmers could avoid the cost of shipping wheat to Minnesota or Wisconsin. The mill opened on Oct 25, 1881 at a cost of $5000,000. The mill could process 1,500 bushels each day. However, by 1883, the mill was closed, a victim of inadequate water power and a short supply of wheat.


Mill house of the Queen Bee Mill.

Queen Bee Mill ruins.

Queen Bee Mill ruins.

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