The Pioneer House was moved to the park in 1993 from Rifle Township in Hettinger County, south of Dickinson. It was built as the family farmhouse about 1913, and lived in until about 1940.  It was never remodeled, and electricity and plumbing were never added.  The room structures are unchanged. It has been furnished with many items typical of that era.  The dining room table and chairs; china hutch/cabinet; fainting couch; rocker in bedroom; floors in bedroom; and woodwork are original.  There are pocket doors in the bedroom and the living room.  The green shades, lace curtains, and other furnishings were typical to the time period.  Most, but not all, of the wood work is original.  The building had extensive vandalism and weathering damage prior to being moved to this site as it had sat empty for nearly thirty years.  It took five years to be restored.  There are photographs on display in the dining room that were taken during the restoration process.

The middle door in the kitchen goes upstairs.  This is an unfinished attic area (not open to the public) typical of early farmhouses.  This space would have still been utilized by the family at different times for storage and/or extra sleeping space.  The door on the far right in the kitchen is the pantry where most of the food would have been stored.  The door on the far left in the kitchen led to the basement where food also would have been stored in an unfinished root cellar.  There was no electricity, so there would have been no refrigerator.  It is unlikely, although possible, that the family would have had an ice box.  Regular deliveries of ice to a rural farmhouse would have been expensive, but ice could sometimes be harvested and stored for use in the summer.  Most of the family's food would have to be preserved and stored without refrigeration.  Canning would have been a primary method of preserving fresh fruit, vegetables, and meat.  Many foods could also be dried and smoked.

A rural farmhouse like this would usually have a well dug outside.  Water had to be pumped and carried by hand.  Often a windmill would be constructed to help pump the water.  Sometimes a cistern and/or barrels were used to gather rainwater as well.  There would have been an outhouse outside, and a chamber pot under the bed to use during cold nights.  Some homes would have a dry sink for which water had to be carried and drained by hand.  A shallow basin of water would be kept for people to wash their hands and faces.  Baths and showers were not frequent.  The family would have used kerosene lights since they didn’t have electricity.  Stoves in the living room and kitchen would have provided all of the heat in the winter.

*This building has limited accessibility for visitors with disabilities.