The Pipestone County Courthouse is the most elaborately designed building in Pipestone. The highly decorated tower is topped by a figure of Lady Justice. The four clock faces in the tower have no clockworks and were never intended to function.

On the Courthouse grounds is a Civil War Monument that was dedicated July 4, 1904. The memorial is inscribed on four sides with the names of more than 200 veterans of the Civil War and the Spanish-American War.

Built at the turn of the century, this unassuming building housed the office of pioneer doctor Alex H Brown. When he retired in 1945, his practice was taken over by his grandson, Dr. Robert Keyes, who retired in 1993. At one time there was an elevator that connected the doctor offices, waiting room, and surgery room on the main floor to a four room hospital on the second floor.

The Pipestone Carnegie library is quite unique. It has a prominent Gothic arch entry, a circular stained glass window above the door and a raised relief panel depicting an open book on its front gable. The library opened in 1904 and was in use until 1975 when it was converted to a senior citizens’ center.

Lange’s Café and Bakery quickly became one of our favorite spots ... it is informal, inexpensive and serves exceptional food. For 6 bucks we got a hot plate of tasty roast beef, real mashed potatoes, green beans, gravy and a basket of homemade rolls. As we enjoyed our meal we perused the songs on the old-style tabletop juke box.

Final note: The town was festooned with yellow ribbons and American flags in honor of the local National Guard unit returning from duty in Iraq. Also, the Song of Hiawatha Pageant was in full swing during our visit ... but we were unable to obtain tickets to the sold out shows.

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