Bonanzaville USA - West Fargo, North Dakota

Bonanzaville USA - West Fargo, North Dakota

This historic turn of the century (late 1800’s to early 1900’s) village holds over 400,000 artifacts in the 40 buildings representing the farm era showing the tough life, and the joys, of being a farmer at the turn of the century.  There are authentic log cabins, a schoolhouse, church, train depot, sheriff’s office, a general store, and a telephone museum, a farm mansion filled with period furnishing and artifacts.  There are also museums of tractors, snowmobiles and airplanes.  All of this shows the lifestyle in the Red River Valley.

There are stuffed animals, guns and delicate antique furniture shown in the museums, the furniture is too delicate to be in the cabins so it is shown here.  There are Native American artifacts, but the best is the fact that these are truly buildings you can go into, walk around and see the actual size and living conditions of the era.  Not like so many that are the facades but the buildings are modern.

The general store has two stories the bottom story is typical general store crammed full of bottles and knick-knacks, and the upstairs has the dentist’s office. There is the old printing press and linotype machine from Hunter North Dakota’s newspaper The Hunter Times, which was operational until the 1940s.

Bonanzaville is located just off of Interstate 94 (Exit 343) and about two and a half miles (4 km) west of the city of Fargo, North Dakota. The complex is open from May to mid-October. The highlight of the museum’s year is the annual "Pioneer Days", the largest and longest running annual event in the Fargo-Moorhead area. The event is held the third weekend of August. Another popular event is "Winter on the Prairie" held each holiday season.

The railroad reached the Red River in 1871 and, to bring in business, advertised the rich soil of the Valley to people on the east coast of the United States and in Europe.  Giant farms were established with thousands of acres of farmland under the direction of one family or company.  These businesses became known as "Bonanza Farms" because of the abundance of crops they produced.

Hours: Spring Mon-Fri 9am-5pm     
Summer Mon-Wed, Fri 10am-5pm; Thu 10am-8pm; Sun Noon-5pm     
Fall Fri-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun Noon-5pm     
Special Hours during the Week after Christmas Fri-Sat 10am-5pm; Sun Noon-5pm

Admission:

Regular Admission: $8.00
Ages 6-16: $4.00
Ages 5 and under: Free

Reduced rates for Museum Only Tours
Group Rate Tours (25 or more people):
Please inquire.

Address: 1351 Main Avenue West, West Fargo, North Dakota 58078

Phone:
1-701-282-2822
1-800-700-5317