North Dakota Heritage Center - Bismarck, North Dakota

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North Dakota Heritage Center - Bismarck, North Dakota

If you are looking for information on the history of the Northern Plains or North Dakota, you’ve come to the right place. At the North Dakota Heritage Center there are permanent galleries and temporary galleries, so no experience here is ever the same, as it’s always changing. Aside from the exhibits, there are lectures, research facilities, workshops, and more.

When you step into the main gallery, the intriguing exhibits found will show you what life was like on the Great Plains. Everything is included here from the land formation to the events of the twentieth century. History shows the conflict that existed between the Indians and Anglo-Americans as they struggled over control of the land. The pioneer life is on display along with the boom in economics that occurred in the early 1900s.

There are artifacts of all these different exciting eras on display, allowing you to have hands-on experience with a Model T Ford while you listen to music from each of these different eras. Even your sense of smell will be enriched from this experience as you come in contact with the smell of a buffalo wallow.

If it’s information on North Dakota history you are after, it can be found at the North Dakota Heritage Center as well. You can find information such as research of your North Dakota ancestors or the foundation of a particular public policy. You may be looking for this information because of your own curiosity, or perhaps you need this information for your schoolwork. Regardless, it’s the most comprehensive arrangement of North Dakota historic information available in the state.

You can also have the North Dakota Heritage Center come to you. There are a number of traveling exhibits that can be circulated out to schools, libraries, other museums, etc. These include wildlife paintings, 250 years of North Dakota maps, Governors of North Dakota, etc. There are a few small fees regarding maintenance and shipping, and you must adhere to certain requirements to maintain security of the exhibits. These items are booked for periods of six weeks at a time.

Pre-scheduled school groups can arrange to tour the Heritage Center and can see docent demonstrations in twenty minute segments, as the groups pick out the desired demonstrations that would pertain to their current curriculum. These must be arranged for at least two weeks in advance, and groups are highly recommended to have a ration of one chaperone to every ten students. The docent demonstrations include topics that cover the first people in North Dakota, the era of change, the settlement period, etc.

The North Dakota Heritage Center is located at 612 East Boulevard Avenue in Bismarck. The Exhibit Galleries are open from May 16 to September 15 seven days a week from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The rest of the year, it is open Monday through Friday from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Saturday from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and Sunday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The Heritage Center, including the galleries, is closed on New Year’s Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

The State Archives and Historical Research Library is open Monday through Friday, except legal holidays, from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM and on the second Saturday each month from 9:00 AM to 4:30 PM. The museum store is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:45 PM, Saturdays from 10:00 AM to 4:45 PM, and Sundays from 11:00 AM to 4:45 PM.