Dakota Theatre -- Yankton Commercial Historic District, Yankton SD
N 42° 52.247 W 097° 23.615
14T E 631212 N 4747716
The Dakota Theatre is listed as a contributing building to the Yankton Commercial Historic District in downtown Yankton South Dakota
Waymark Code: WM17G6V
Location: South Dakota, United States
Date Posted: 02/16/2023
Views: 1
The beautiful Dakota Theatre, with its tile Indian Blanket motif in downtown Yankton SD, still entertains the folks 123 years after it opened in 1900, and is listed on the US National Register of Historic Places as a contributing building to the Yankton Commercial Historic District as follows:
From the NRHP nomination form for the Yankton Commercial Historic District: (
visit link)
"Site Number 61
Dakota Theatre
328 Walnut
History
Built by Dr. D. W. Rudgers, an eye, ear and nose specialist, in ca. 1900, the theatre had as its first leasee, Maurice W. Jencks of the Hess Theatre. In the 1922-1927 era, manager Oscar Johnson, changed the name to Dakota Theatre. During the management of Bill Taman, from 1941 to 1959, the theater was given a new front.
Description
The three-story building is constructed of brick and Sioux Falls granite. Presently the façade is made of porcelain enameled panels and burnished metal done in bright deco colors. The panels are late in the day on diagonal, and the corners is curved metal. The third floor was once used for dances.
Significance: architecture, theatre
Opening with the performances of the Andrews Opera Company, the Dakota Theatre was known in his early years as the Rudgers Opera House. In 1922, WNAX, the famous Yankton radio station, broadcast its second concert from the Hess. The town's major theatre, the Dakota is one of the outstanding Art Deco theater façades in South Dakota and remains virtually unchanged."