Social Squares · North Dakota · The Peace Garden State
North Dakota, town by town
One calm page for each North Dakota town: what’s on this weekend from the library, the schools, the churches and city hall, its history, and every local shop on one hand-drawn map. Free, no ads, kept by neighbors. The church supper, the county fair and the high school game, all in one place.
Tap a pin to step into that town’s Square.
Open now
Every North Dakota Square, A to Z
Made in North Dakota
North Dakota firsts
- 1804Lewis and Clark’s winter, and Sacagawea Washburn
Lewis and Clark built Fort Mandan about 12 miles from today’s Washburn and spent the winter of 1804–05 there. It is where they appear to have first met Sacagawea, who went west with them in the spring. Source
- 1883Theodore Roosevelt’s Badlands Medora
A young Theodore Roosevelt came to the Badlands near Medora to hunt bison in 1883 and stayed to ranch. He later said he never would have been president without his years in North Dakota. His presidential library opened in Medora on July 4, 2026. Source
- 1903Lawrence Welk Strasburg
Bandleader Lawrence Welk was born in 1903 in Strasburg, a German-speaking farm town, and didn’t learn English until he was 21. His family’s homestead became a tourist stop. Source
- 1919A bank owned by the state Bismarck
The Legislature created the Bank of North Dakota in Bismarck in 1919. It is still the only state-owned, general-service bank in the country. Source
- 1931The center of North America (Rugby’s claim) Rugby
Rugby put up a 15-foot stone obelisk in 1931 marking the geographical center of North America. The claim is disputed: newer math puts the center about 105 miles southwest, in Center, North Dakota. Source
- 1932The International Peace Garden Dunseith
North of Dunseith, a garden opened on July 14, 1932, right on the border with Manitoba, as a sign of the peace between the United States and Canada. North Dakota calls itself the Peace Garden State. Source
- 1959The World’s Largest Buffalo Jamestown
Jamestown’s concrete bison has stood over the town since 1959: 26 feet tall, 46 feet long and about 60 tons. A 2010 naming contest called it Dakota Thunder. Source
- 1961Roger Maris’s 61 Fargo
Roger Maris grew up in Fargo and hit his record 61st home run on the last day of the 1961 season. The Roger Maris Museum opened at Fargo’s West Acres mall in 1984. Source
- 1974Salem Sue New Salem
New Salem’s farmers and Lions Club put up Salem Sue in 1974, a 38-foot cow on a hill beside I-94, billed as the world’s largest Holstein. Source
- 1989The Enchanted Highway Regent
Artist Gary Greff began welding giant scrap-metal sculptures along the road from Regent north to I-94 in 1989. Guinness named one of them, Geese in Flight, the world’s largest scrap metal sculpture in 2002. Source
Your town next?
Each Square opens with its own history, photos and calendar, and a neighbor to keep it. If your North Dakota town isn’t here yet, tell us, or add your church’s, school’s or club’s calendar and help it open.