Sometime later this month, the State Historical Society of North Dakota is going to officially announce the approval of a new historic neighborhood in Bismarck. I’m pretty excited about it because I live in it. Two years ago last week, the Highland Acres neighborhood in west Bismarck was named to the National Register of Historic Places, with its official new …
Although I can no longer untangle when I decided to learn more about Ruth and Clell Goebel Gannon, I credit my friend, Ken Rogers of Mandan, N.D., for piquing my interest to the point at which I started collecting their books and admiring their prose and poetry. Ken and the inimitable Kevin Carvell of Mott, N.D., who quite possibly has …
I went to the North Dakota Department of Water Resources public hearing Friday on whether they should grant the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad permission to build a new bridge over the Missouri River between Bismarck and Mandan. To quote from the Department’s meeting notice, “The new bridge is intended to replace an existing bridge, the proposed removal of which will …
The city of Bismarck celebrates its 150th anniversary this year. Not to date her or anything, but 50 years ago, my current wife, Ginny, helped plan the city’s centennial celebration. My how time flies! Like it or not. Ginny was born in Bismarck and grew up there. She graduated from the University of North Dakota, returned to Bismarck for work, where …
About 3½ years ago, a few residents of the Highland Acres neighborhood in west Bismarck sat down with some staff at the State Historical Society of North Dakota and began discussing the possibility of creating the Highland Acres Historic District and to nominate it for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places. Today (Nov. 17), the Bismarck Historic Preservation …
Well, the liberals did it now. “Human scum,” if you prefer. How are we going to pay for THIS? How are we going to put a price on human life this time? Burleigh County, 1,668 mostly empty square miles, is willing to accept a whole 25 refugees from probably not Northern Europe. What an imposition on somebody somewhere in that …
Liberty is not wearing your seat belt now. Not wearing one last month paled in comparison to the rush you get today. Just in case you were unclear as to the rules of liberty. I guess I was unclear about it, but some eloquent legislator said it was true. It seems like a low bar for liberty. I don’t know …
Whoever said you can’t go home doesn’t know Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson, who recently traveled to his home state of North Dakota with his wife, Joanne Plager Burke Olson. Here are some of the sights and family moments they enjoyed on their trip.
Just 24 days ago, Will Gardner, the Republican Party’s nominee for North Dakota secretary of state, announced he was dropping out of the race after news stories surfaced about him being arrested (and convicted) for peeking in windows at women’s dormitories at North Dakota State University. You might have been a bit hasty there, Will. Republicans apparently don’t care about …
Over the years, I’ve been asked off and on if I’d ever consider running for public office. My response has always been the same: “You won’t see my name on a ballot until all my college roommates are dead.” Dead men tell no tales. A couple of my roommates are gone, but Ron and Jim and Len and Brad are …
OIL TO THE RESCUE A pair of Bismarck oil men, new to North Dakota and chasing the state’s first small oil boom, likely made the deal of their life in early 1952, acquiring almost the entire 127-acre tract of Highland Acres, complete with partially constructed streets, water mains, a couple of dozen good residents and the potential to earn a …
MOVING IN Here are the first 21 residents of Highland Acres, gleaned from the files of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Notice they are all just men’s names, the “heads of households.” We assume they all had wives as well. And probably children. I don’t have the dates of the purchase of each of these homes, but I’m …
1948: BUILDING HIGHLAND ACRES BEGINS The Bismarck Tribune reported in April 1948 that “Twelve houses are under construction in Highland Acres, the addition on the western edge of the city owned by the Bismarck Veterans Homeowners Cooperative Association.” The paper said that the housing co-op had also contracted for construction of nine additional homes. Looking over the building plans for …
WALLACE STEGNER: IN PRAISE OF COOPERATIVES In early 1947, the Bismarck Veterans Homeowners Cooperative Association’s management committee developed a mimeographed newsletter for mailing to co-op members and in one of its first issues included excerpts from an article written by the noted author Wallace Stegner in the April 1947 issue of the magazine “47,” noted by some as “The Magazine …
FINDING A NAME: HOW WE BECAME HIGHLAND ACRES The new development needed a name. Bismarck Tribune editor Ken Simons wrote a story for his paper announcing a contest would be held to name the subdivision and the streets within it. Entries were to be submitted to the committee, with an entry deadline of Aug. 12, 1946. On Aug.t 22, the …
HIGHLAND ACRES AND THE BISMARCK VETERANS HOMEOWNERS COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION — PRODUCTS OF A PERFECT STORM Highland Acres Addition to the city of Bismarck, was a housing subdivision developed cooperatively by a group of returning World War II veterans in the 1940s and 1950s. Its success led to the subsequent development of nearby Highland Acres Second and Third Additions and Torrance …
Regular readers of this blog (both of you, as my friend, Dan Ulmer, likes to say in his weekly newspaper column, poking fun at himself to remind him not to take himself too seriously — I’m with Dan) will notice that I haven’t been very active here lately. That’s not because there hasn’t been much going on to write about. …
Although this is a time of fallow in the yard, there is beauty everywhere, for those who pause to look. The hoary white bits coat everything and the air is still. It makes me think of this poem, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Here are the first and last few lines. “Frost at Midnight” The Frost performs its secret ministry, Unhelped …
Hello from Lillian AND Jim. We sat down this week and wrote about one of the coolest things that have happened to us in a long time, and we’re posting it on both our blogs — Wild Dakota Woman and View From The Prairie. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it. On summer evenings …
Hello from Lillian AND Jim. We sat down this week and wrote about one of the coolest things that have happened to us in a long time, and we’re posting it on both our blogs — Wild Dakota Woman and View From The Prairie. We hope you enjoy reading this as much as we enjoyed writing it. On summer evenings …
Jim and I took in the most enchanting exhibit at the Bismarck Art Galleries Association this afternoon, one of the treasures of our city. The exhibit is “Northern Plains Native Americans: A Modern Wet Plate Perspective” by Shane Balkowitsch. I was particularly taken with many of the subject’s Native American names. Although there were dozens that deeply moved us, my …
Frost is in the forecast for Red Oak House. It was inevitable and is an integral part of the life cycle. On this chilly and breezy Tuesday morning, Jim and I harvested the last of the vegetables — that is everything but the Brussels sprouts, which are left out until they produce. We’ll see. Together we dug the parsnips, the leeks and …
On Saturday, I began a nine-week meditation on nonviolence. Monday morning, the anniversary of the birth of Gandhi, a leader who taught the world so much about nonviolence but died by an assassin’s bullet, I awoke to the horrible news of the carnage in Las Vegas. Although my grandparents saw great hardship in their long lives, I feel certain that …
Hi folks, it’s me, your intrepid reporter. You know, a member of the lame stream drive-by media. One of the people complicating the system with facts and research. Fortunately, many voters were able to see through that mask of deception and elect Donald Trump as president. I just got word. The Enlightenment is upon us. Here, in the bunker, reception …
From the back roads and byways to the capital city of Bismarck, North Dakota offers some spectacular viewing, especially this time of the year. Grand Forks photographer Dave Bruner’s recent travels across the state presented some great photo ops, which he shares here.
Alexandria, Va., photographer Jeff Olson returned to his home state of North Dakota recently and captured these shots in the capital city Bismarck.