Ted Hustead, a pharmacist from farther east, had moved his young family out west to Wall, South Dakota and purchased the town's only drug store, eking out a meager living, dependent on the local townsfolk that might need an occasional prescription. By 1936, on a hot and dusty afternoon made even more miserable watching travelers stream past the town without stopping, Dorothy Hustead figured a few travelers might stop if the store offered free ice water. Ted was not so optimistic, but nevertheless made up some signs and set out to post them along the roadway.
The story goes that by the time Ted returned to the store, Dorothy was busy chipping ice to serve the line of thirsty travelers that had formed- a few even decided they were more than thirsty and bought some ice cream. Dorothy's simple idea had the store full of customers every day since. Over the years, they hired more employees and expanded the store to offer more than drugs and sundries.
By the 1960's, son Bill Hustead, who had grown up serving the throng of thirsty travelers, expanded the store even more, adding souvenirs and attractions- like the 80 ft. tall concrete dinosaur at the I-90 exit ramp and the oversized (6 ft) jackalope big enough for kids to sit on. Long before cell phones and selfies, Wall Drug had created a variety of photo ops to lure travelers and entertain the kids.
The entire Wall Drug complex covers 76,000 sq. ft. in a town with only 800 residents, and most likely 799 of them have worked at Wall Drug one time or another, serving cup after cup of free ice water.
Note: Wall Drug is located at 510 Main Street, but all you really need to do is follow the signs, and look for the big green dinosaur.
