To spot the Sioux Falls National Bank, just look for the tallest, rectangular, brown-brick building with big windows and cream-colored stone at the base-it stands proudly right at the corner and towers above almost everything else around you.
Now, let’s spin you back to Sioux Falls in 1917. World War I rumbled in the background, but here, a totally different kind of tower was making history! Picture the city buzzing as cranes hoisted steel beams high, and everyone stared upward, jaws dropped. This was the Sioux Falls National Bank-designed by the famed architects Weary & Alford from Chicago, with a couple of Minneapolis builders, Pike & Cook, making sure every brick stayed put. It shot up nine bold stories, making it the tallest building in all of South Dakota. You could say it was the skyscraper that made the rest look short!
And don’t forget, this wasn’t just any old box with windows. Thanks to architect Oscar Wenderoth’s Sullivanesque style-think classy, stylish, and just a little bit unique-it’s still the only building like it left in Sioux Falls. Fast forward, and this “giant among buildings” is now the Hotel on Phillips, standing right here on the National Register of Historic Places, and boasting a spot with the Historic Hotels of America. So whether you’re here to check in, cash in, or just take in the view-this place has stories that truly stack up.
