Wall Drug
In 1931, Ted Hustead bought a drugstore in Wall, South Dakota, population 326, and wondered if he'd made a terrible mistake. Wall sat on the edge of the Badlands, 60 miles from Mount Rushmore, on a highway that carried tourists past without stopping. For five years, the Husteads barely survived. Then Dorothy Hustead had an idea: offer free ice water. They put up signs along the highway. Cars began stopping. By the end of that first summer, the Husteads couldn't keep up with demand. Today, Wall Drug covers 76,000 square feet and draws two million visitors annually. There's a giant dinosaur, a fake Mount Rushmore, a chapel, an art gallery, a restaurant, and more free ice water than anyone could drink. Signs advertising Wall Drug appear worldwide - from London to Antarctica, from the bottom of the ocean to outer space. It's the greatest triumph of roadside marketing in American history.
The Desperation
Ted Hustead was a small-town pharmacist who bought Wall Drug in 1931 because it was cheap and he needed a job. Wall had no hospital, no dentist, no reason for anyone to visit. The highway brought tourists to Mount Rushmore, but they drove straight through. The Husteads struggled for five years, contemplating bankruptcy. In July 1936, Dorothy Hustead lay awake listening to cars pass through town without stopping. 'What do travelers want?' she asked herself. 'They're hot. They're thirsty. They want ice water.' The next day, Ted put up signs along the highway: 'Free Ice Water - Wall Drug.'
The Signs
The signs worked immediately. Cars started stopping. More signs went up. The Husteads hired sign painters. By 1950, Wall Drug had signs across the Great Plains. The signs became the attraction - tourists photographed them, sent postcards, and made Wall Drug famous before they ever visited. In 1958, a soldier put up a Wall Drug sign in Korea. Others followed: Vietnam, Antarctica, the Berlin Wall, the North Pole. Astronauts photographed Wall Drug signs in orbit. A sign was placed on the ocean floor. The signs now number in the thousands, placed by Wall Drug and by fans who carry them to remote locations. The signs are the most successful word-of-mouth campaign ever.
The Store
Modern Wall Drug bears no resemblance to the original drugstore. The complex covers 76,000 square feet and includes a 500-seat restaurant (serving 2,500 donuts daily), a gallery of Western art, a chapel (for quiet reflection amid the chaos), an 80-foot dinosaur, a shooting gallery, an animated T. rex, a replica of Mount Rushmore, a pharmacy (still), and countless shops selling souvenirs. The decorations are deliberately overwhelming - an everything-at-once aesthetic that rewards wandering. The ice water is still free. Over two million people visit annually. The Hustead family still runs the operation, third generation now.
The Philosophy
Wall Drug's success seems improbable until you understand the route. Interstate 90 crosses South Dakota, 310 miles of flat, empty prairie. Tourists are bored. They're thirsty. They need to stop somewhere. Wall Drug gives them a reason - not a compelling reason, but a reason. The store's appeal is its own absurdity: why would anyone build this here? The answer - desperation transformed into genius - is the story tourists tell. Wall Drug is a monument to American optimism, to the belief that hard work and creativity can overcome any circumstance. The Husteads were not cynics. They genuinely offered ice water; the empire followed.
Visiting Wall Drug
Wall Drug is located at 510 Main Street in Wall, South Dakota, on Interstate 90, 60 miles east of Rapid City. The store is open year-round; hours vary seasonally. Admission is free; the ice water is free. Parking is ample. Badlands National Park is immediately south; Mount Rushmore is 60 miles west. Rapid City Regional Airport is 50 miles west. Wall is a popular overnight stop for tourists driving across South Dakota. The experience takes 30 minutes to several hours depending on your tolerance for kitsch. The donuts are excellent. The ice water is cold. The signs were right.
From the Air
Located at 43.99°N, 102.24°W in Wall, South Dakota, at the northern edge of the Badlands. From altitude, Wall is a small town grid along Interstate 90, visible against the transition from prairie to badlands terrain. Wall Drug's buildings are visible as a large complex along the main street. The Badlands spread south, their eroded formations visible as broken, banded terrain. Mount Rushmore is 60 miles west in the Black Hills. The terrain is western South Dakota prairie - flat to rolling, brown in winter, golden in summer. Rapid City Regional Airport is 50 miles west.