About the State Historical Society of North Dakota
The State Historical Society of North Dakota, founded in 1895, is the state agency responsible for North Dakota's museums, historic sites, archives, and historic preservation program. It is governed by a twelve-member State Historical Board, seven of whose members are appointed by the governor, and organized into divisions for historic preservation, the State Archives, museums and education, and support services. Its headquarters is the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum on the Capitol grounds in Bismarck, which the agency has expanded into a set of new galleries and exhibit spaces.
The Society's reach extends well beyond Bismarck. It operates 60 state museums and historic sites, ranging from staffed sites with visitor centers and furnished buildings to unmarked locations in open pasture. Among the best known are the Chateau de Morès in Medora, Fort Abercrombie, Fort Buford, Fort Totten, the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center, the Pembina State Museum, the Former Governors' Mansion in Bismarck, the Stutsman County Courthouse in Jamestown, and the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site near Cooperstown, where the exhibit "America's Ace in the Hole" tells the Cold War story. A few sites are closed to visitors for preservation reasons or out of respect for American Indian nations that hold them sacred.
The museum collections are large: roughly 650,000 pieces in the archaeological collection and about 43,000 artifacts in the history, ethnology, and natural history collections. The Historic Preservation Division serves as the State Historic Preservation Office, inventorying and nominating properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places and reviewing federally assisted projects.
Collections and Research Services
The State Archives, housed in the Heritage Center, is the official repository for the historic records of state and local government in North Dakota and the agency's main research service. Its holdings include manuscript collections of letters, diaries, photographs, and maps; books and periodicals; newspapers; audio recordings, film and video; electronic records; and a large photograph collection. The reading room is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., except state holidays, and on the second Saturday of each month from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Appointments are recommended; call (701) 328-2091 or email archives@nd.gov.
Much of the collection can be searched from home. The Society launched a new portal at findhistory.nd.gov for searching its collections, and digitized photographs are available through the SHSND Photobook and the Digital Horizons consortium site. The Society also publishes the journal North Dakota History, with a cumulative index online. Family historians tracing homesteaders and immigrants to the Northern Plains will want to read our guides to free family history research and finding where someone is buried before contacting the archives.
Planning Your Visit
The State Museum and museum store at 612 East Boulevard Avenue are open Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on New Year's Day, Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, with early closing on Christmas Eve. Society offices keep weekday hours. The main switchboard is (701) 328-2666. Education programs include summer history camps, toddler programs at the State Museum, and a virtual "Ask-an-Expert" service for classrooms; the Society's Museums & Historic Sites brochure, available on the website, is the best planning tool for a road trip to the outlying sites. Confirm current hours and any site closures at www.history.nd.gov.
In the far northwest corner of the state, next door to the Society's Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center and Fort Buford, the National Park Service operates Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site, a reconstructed fur-trade post on the Missouri River.
Explore North Dakota's Historical Landscape
Use the When It Was app to discover historical businesses, landmarks, and buildings throughout North Dakota. See how your community has transformed over the decades.
Explore When It Was →