The fascinating heritage of North Dakota is shared through interactive exhibits, high-tech displays, and thousands of artifacts at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum in Bismarck. Along with museum galleries, the exhibits along the Corridor of History help to tell the state's unique story. The museum's Northern Lights Atrium is a beautiful combination of symbolism and architecture, while the Pembina River Plaza showcases geologic specimens from the past. Visitors can bring a treasure home with them from the Museum Store, enjoy a snack at the James River Café, and walk through the site's stunning ground along part of the Capitol Arboretum Trail. A wide variety of exhibits are on display at the free museum, from a T. Rex skeleton cast to a soda shop from the 1950's.
The North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum's Treehouse is designed with younger visitors in mind. This museum exhibit encourages kids to explore and discover life in North Dakota, both during the past and present. The Treehouse features a flight simulator, locomotive, steamboat, fire station, bank, and a child-sized treehouse in which children can climb into for an aerial view of the area.
The North Dakota and the Great War exhibit tells the story of the state of North Dakota during World War I through military weapons, gear, documents, and more from the museum's collections. The North Dakota Native American Hall of Honor can be found in the Mouse River Hall, between the Inspiration Gallery and the Innovation Gallery. The Hall honors individuals who have gone the extra mile in representing their cultures and tribes.
The North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum's Adaptation Gallery: Geologic Time tells the interesting story of life and geology during the past in North Dakota, from 600 million years ago to 13,000 years ago. Visitors will journey back in time to explore how Earth's geologic events transformed the land many times, requiring animals and plants to adapt to changing landscapes and climates. The gallery features monstrous sea creatures in primordial oceans, the rise and extinction of dinosaurs, tropical swamplands, and the ice age's elephant-like mammals among much more.
The Innovation Gallery: Early Peoples at the North Dakota Heritage Center and State Museum focuses on North Dakota's Native peoples, highlighting the broadness and beauty of the State Museum's collection. Visitors can learn about the state's tribes, both before their contact with European-Americans and today as sovereign nations. North Dakota's varied and rich history is shaped by the people who call the state home across place and time.
The Inspiration Gallery: Yesterday and Today shares the story of North Dakota through six themes that still shape the state's history today. These six themes are Cultural Expressions; Our Lives, Our Communities; Conflict and War; Newcomers and Settlement; Industry and Energy; and Agricultural Innovation. Guests can view numerous works of art in the North Dakota Art exhibit in the Red River Hall, located between the Adaptation Gallery and the Governors Gallery. The rotating art gallery showcases North Dakota artists.
612 East Boulevard Avenue, Bismarck, North Dakota, Phone: 701-328-2666
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