The Dickinson Museum Center's mission is to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of Dickinson, Stark County, and Southwest North Dakota.

Dickinson is centrally located in southwestern North Dakota, the midpoint between Fargo, North Dakota and Billings, Montana.  As a result of this strategic location, it was known for decades by the nickname “Queen City of the Prairies.”  As Dickinson is also the gateway to the great American West, Medora, and Theodore Roosevelt National Park, it has become known as “the Western Edge.”

The original town site of Dickinson was platted in 1882.  As was the case with most North Dakota towns, Dickinson was developed as a “T-Town.”  This term describes the standard layout of communities whose settlement hinged on the coming of the railroad, and is marked by the "T" shape formed by the intersection of two primary streets—usually also the location of the depot.  In Dickinson this can be seen where Sims Street (running north and south) meets Villard Street (running east and west).  This is the precise location of the historic Northern Pacific Depot, which is still in use by the Burlington Northern Railroad Company.  Dickinson was chosen as a division point by the Northern Pacific because of its central location between Bismarck, North Dakota, and the Montana border. 

Southwest North Dakota has a long and rich history that begins with Native American communities.  When the first white people came into this area, it was populated by the Dakota and Lakota (Sioux), who camped and hunted on the prairie.  The Mandan also have a long history in the area, and often hunted in this region. The Mandan, Arikara, and Hidatsa (the Three Affiliated Tribes) continue to live along the Missouri River, just as they have for hundreds of years.

Some of the first white men in the area included General Alfred Sully in 1864, who was in pursuit of the Dakota.  Although the Dakota were involved in a conflict in Minnesota in 1862 where several people were killed, the people living in this region were not part of the particular band involved in the conflict.  By 1873, the Northern Pacific railroad survey crews were in the region scouting potential routes to build the tracks west, connecting Duluth, Minnesota with Puget Sound, in Washington Territory.  It was at this time that George A. Custer came to the region to help protect the survey expeditions. 

In 1876, Custer died in the Battle of the Big Horn in Montana Territory.  Less than a year later, Fort Keogh was established (present Miles City, Montana), and the Keogh trail was the primary route for travelers going west from Bismarck to Montana.  A stage line operated until rail service could be established in 1881. The Fort Keogh stage coach and mail route was closely followed by the Northern Pacific Railway, and at the turn of the century it was followed as a primary road for automobiles--known as the Old Red Trail. The Old Red Trail was graveled, and later paved, in the 1920s and 1930s to become Highway 10. In the 1960s Interstate-94 was built, still closely following the original Fort Keogh Tail.

For decades Dickinson was a major cattle shipping point, and ranching was a major element in the region’s economic system.  Gradually this shifted to a strong agricultural and farming base, and by the 1950s the oil industry also become a significant resource in the region.  Ranching and farming continue to be integral to the modern local economy, in addition to the oil and coal industries.