SCOUTING YESTERDAY: Esteemed architect shapes legacy, South Dakota with quartzite designs

This week in South Dakota history: March 21-27

Wallace Dow. Photo: South Dakota Historical Society Press

Sioux Falls architect Wallace Dow was selected to design a new building at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell this week in 1900, according to the March 27, 1900, edition of The Madison Daily Leader. Often referred to as “The Builder on the Prairie,” many of South Dakota’s iconic buildings from the turn of the century were Dow’s creations.

Born on Sept. 21, 1844, in Croyden, New Hampshire, Dow grew into his family trade of carpentry and joinery, and opened his first business in Newport, New Hampshire, according to the South Dakota State Historical Society. Without any formal training, Dow later changed career paths and studied architecture under his uncle Edward Dow, a prominent builder in Concord, New Hampshire.

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