Yesterday we drove a long time. Our goal was to get to Rapid City South Dakota. We did about 8 hours in the car with little to no stopping for sites. However, one of the things we did manage to do was stop at Wall Drug Store in Wall South Dakota.

Wall Drug was purchased in 1931 by a pharmacist who was looking for a small town in which to be a pharmacist and the town needed a catholic church. He bought Wall Drug in a small (231 person) town, Wall South Dakota. Apparently, he and his wife were struggling until his wife, the woman of course, came up with the idea of offering free water to travelers. They started offering free water right after Mt. Rushmore was opened. So, travelers on their way to see Mt. Rushmore sought out Wall Drug for the free ice water, 5 cent coffee and thus a booming business was born. It has since grown into a cowboy themed shopping mall, which includes a western art museum, and yes it stills has a pharmacy. You can get just about anything at Wall. Including all of your camping gear.

One of the things the family did was place a ton of signs on the highway advertising the free water. That has turned into a full advertising campaign starting about 50 miles away you begin to see the signs advertising Wall Drug. Today, more than 2 million visitors a year stop at Wall for a meal or activity, 5 cent coffee, and ice water – which is still free.

When the United States Air Force operated the Minuteman missile silos east of Wall, the owners offered free coffee and donuts to the service personnel as they traveled to and from Ellsworth Air Force Base near Rapid City. Today Wall Drug honors the men and women in the armed services by continuing to provide them free coffee and donuts.

As you can see Fred and I partook in many of the adventures at Wall.