National Register of Historic Places

As the city of Dickinson's Historic Preservationist, it is part of my job to promote the preservation of historic buildings and the preservation of such assessts. Currently, only three properties in Dickinson are on the National Register: the post office, the Stark County courthouse, and the campus of Dickinson State University. We expect this to change soon, however, with the addition of the Dickinson Public Library. The library staff and volunteers have been hard at work writing a nomination form for the building, which dates to 1908. The library has recently undergone an extensive construction project, including a new addition and the restoration of the original building. If you have yet to visit the library to see the changes, it is well worth the trip. A metal ceiling was discovered during the construction and restoration process, which has been restored and made a focal point of the main entry. It is a marvelous asset for our community, and a nomination to the National Register will be well deserved.

Gearing up for Summer

The museum center is getting ready for exhibits, events, and programs for the 2007 summer season. The featured exhibit this year will be *125 YEARS* which will include artifacts and information on the founding and development of Dickinson. Originally called Pleasant Valley Siding, the site was chosen as a division point for the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1880. In 1881 the first buildings went up, and by that fall the name had been changed to Dickinson, after Wells S. Dickinson, a senator from New York and land agent for the Northern Pacific. In 1882 the town site was platted, and the first lot was sold to E.F. Messersmith on September 7, 1882.

Other exhibits will include information on the historic buildings in downtown Dickinson, and the history of agriculture, ranching, oil, and coal in the area. A few programs that are being developed include the first ever Southwest North Dakota Photography Contest to be held at the museum, and some programs for school-aged children. Check back with us for more information as these programs continue to develop.

Tours of Downtown Dickinson

Museum staff just reviewed the layout for a new self-guided tour brochure featuring downtown Dickinson. It was pretty exciting to see things coming together on this project. A lot of research went into the project, focusing on about two dozen downtown properties. Nineteen buildings made the final cut, although there are a lot more buildings that could have been incuded. There simply wasn't room for them all. We will be enhancing the brochure with guided tours this summer, where we will be able to include more information and history about more of the buildings. The brochures should be ready by May, just in time for National Preservation Month.

2007 Annual Meeting

The 2007 annual meeting for the Southwestern North Dakota Museum Foundation Inc. (Joachim Board) will be held Wednesday, April 18 at the Dickinson Elks Club. The membership will meet at 6:00 p.m. in the Sodbuster Room. Roosevelt-Custer Regional Council will be making a presentation on the needs assessment project they are working on related to a possible expansion at the museum center. Admission is $5 and is open to the public, although joining as a member is encouraged. Memberships can be purchased at the meeting, $10 for an individual and $20 for a family. During the meeting, membership will be voting to fill several open board positions. Membership is required to vote. For more information, or to apply for an open board position, please call Danielle Stuckle, Executive Director of the Dickinson Museum Center at 701-456-6225.

Getting Started

The Dickinson Museum Center is excited to be able to communicate with a larger audience through a blog. Posts will vary with frequency, but staff will try to update the blog on a regular basis. We are just beginning a large inventory/cataloging project to make our collections more accessible to researchers. There are some great items in our collections, especially a rich accumulation of photographs. As we process the collections we will share some of the unique and special finds on the blog. We also have some pretty interesting local history to promote, and will continue to research and publish information related to Southwestern North Dakota.

Clio at Work

The word "museum" generally refers to a place for a display of public knowledge. It is derived from the muses of Greek mythology--goddesses who both embody and inspire the arts. Clio is the muse of history. She is often pictured with a scroll, tablets, or books. So it is only fitting that Clio is the mascot of history museums everywhere. The Dickinson Museum Center will be calling on Clio in its efforts to increase awareness of the history of Southwest North Dakota. The museum center has been going through a lot of changes in the last year including the re-design and update of the website. These changes will continue to develop as the museum center strives to reach new goals in service and outreach.

Blogs have been popping up all over the internet for the last couple of years. It is a great way to communicate with a global audience, and so museums and archives have begun to embrace this new tool. There are some excellent blogs available through the museum community that do everything from promote events to share rarely seen items from collections. That is what we will be doing with the blog for the museum center as well. Feature new aquisitions, promote events and programs, and share a little bit about the ins and outs of our daily lives behind the scenes--what is it we really do with all that stuff? We hope you enjoy our new experiment as much as we enjoy providing it.