Most N.D. historic sites open May 16

North Dakota’s state historic sites will open or expand hours for the summer season, beginning May 16 and continuing through Sept. 15.

The historic sites opening for the season include Gingras Trading Post near Walhalla; Fort Abercrombie, and its interpretive center, near Fargo and Wahpeton; Fort Clark Trading Post near Washburn; and Whitestone Hill near Kulm.

Other historic sites will expand their hours for the season. These include the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile site near Cooperstown; the Missouri-Yellowstone Confluence Interpretive Center, part of Fort Buford near Williston; and the interpretive center at the Chateau de Mores site, near Medora. The Chateau itself will also open for summer tours.

Fort Totten near Devils Lake and the Former Governors’ Mansion and Camp Hancock in Bismarck will have expanded hours for the summer season.

Also expanding its hours is the Pembina State Museum, a regional museum of the State Historical Society of North Dakota that is open year-round and features exhibits and a seven-story-high observation deck with a panoramic view of the Red River Valley area.

The home of the state’s history agency, the SHSND, is the North Dakota Heritage Center in Bismarck, the largest museum in the state and open year-round, featuring exhibits exploring life on the Northern Plains, from prehistory to the present.

Construction work is under way on the Heritage Center’s $52 million expansion project, which will nearly double the size of the current facility with the addition of 97,000 square feet for the exhibits and collections spaces. Throughout the course of the construction these next two years, the Heritage Center will remain open on a daily basis for visitors and facility users, although the Main Gallery will close for renovation on Oct. 15. The new front doors, all the hallway exhibits, Museum Store and James River Café will open in May 2013. The first permanent gallery featuring the geologic time exhibits will open in July 2013.

Tags: diversions, tourism, history