BELLE FOURCHE—There is so much regional history on display at the Tri-State Museum and Visitors Center that visitors could spend hours learning about Indian tribes, Black Hills Round Up history or ranching artifacts. New permanent exhibits have recently been installed to ensure a wide range of historical topics are covered.
A new exhibit detailing haberdashery has replaced the christening dress display. The haberdashery exhibit features the history and artifacts of men’s wear including men’s hats, ties, belts, gloves and more.
Transportation from the Covered Wagon to Railroads to Automobiles is the title of another new permanent exhibit. “This is transportation and it goes from wagons and buggies right to cobblestone—we have bricks from the Jefferson School,” explained Jada Udager, Collections Archivist. “I mean, how cool is this 1916 license plate?” Some of the items in this display include pictures of historic cars, six wooden spokes for a wagon wheel found at Orman Dam and a wagon seat.
The Minnesela, A Town That Once Was and Is No More exhibit was updated. “I brought the Minnesela display over here and brought actual artifacts over about Minnesela—we didn’t have any of those before,” shared Udager. Souvenir items and historical pictures make up some of the items in this display.
Another new exhibit that is in the process of being built focuses on photography. “This one’s so brand new it doesn’t even have any boards on it yet—I just did this one this week and it’s photography,” said Udager. “This is a glass plate negative of when the post office was being built in 1917!”
There is always something fun to see at the Tri-State Museum! Stop by and check out any of the new permanent exhibits or the latest mini exhibit or temporary exhibit. They are open Tuesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The experience is free.
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