The impending name change of a road in South Dakota has a handful of people from around the Sioux Falls area ready to blow like a powder keg at the moment.

The Sioux Falls City Council on Tuesday night voted 7-1 to make a name change to a four-mile stretch of state Highway 11 currently called Powder House Road. The road will soon be called "Veterans Parkway" despite pleas from Sioux Falls-area history buffs to keep it called Powder House Road.

History buffs like Jim Carlson, who is the President of the Minnehaha County Historical Society is not happy about the upcoming name change.

Carlson says nearly 80 years ago, the area near the road was the site of a massive explosion caused by a gang from Sioux City, Iowa.

According to Carlson, "It was actually felt in California on their seismic graph. There were windows broken in Sioux Falls, Dell Rapids, and people all over heard the blast within miles."

The explosion actually came from the powder house room of an old hardware store, eventually leading to the name Powder House Road.

Carlson and others fear that once the name disappears, eventually, so will the memory.

The group of supporters made their case at the City Council meeting Tuesday night, before the council voted to change the name.

Sioux Falls City Council member Rex Rolfing says he had a friend approach him about naming any stretch of road to honor veterans. He says they ultimately landed on that portion of Highway 11.

According to Rolfing, "I think it's the right place because it's going to give a lot of visibility to 'Veterans Parkway.'

Rolfing added that the frontage road alongside Highway 11, also named 'Powder House Road', will stay the same in order to preserve Sioux Falls history.

In addition, a new historical marker will be placed along Highway 11.

"We want to keep our historical markers and the history of Sioux Falls as viable and as visible as we possibly can," said Rolfing.

The name change is expected to take place within a couple of months.

Source: KDLT

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