How to Get There

Overview

Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota. It is the second-most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. Forbes magazine ranked Bismarck as the seventh fastest-growing small city in the United States.

Diocesan officials, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Image Size Adjusted

Bismarck was founded by European-Americans in 1872 on the east bank of the Missouri River. It has been North Dakota's capital city since 1889, when the state was created from the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union.

The North Dakota State Capitol complex is just north of downtown Bismarck. The 19-story Art Deco capitol is the tallest building in the state, at a height of 241.75 feet (73.69 m). The capitol building towers over the city's center and is easily seen from 20 miles (32 km) away on a clear day. Completed during the Great Depression in 1934, it replaced a capitol building that burned to the ground in 1930. The capitol grounds encompass the North Dakota Heritage Center, the North Dakota State Library, the North Dakota Governor's Residence, the State Office Building, and the Liberty Memorial Building.

The Cathedral District, named after the Art Deco Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, is an historic neighborhood near downtown Bismarck. Some homes in this neighborhood date to the 1880s, although many were built in the first decades of the 20th century.

Parks and recreation

The Parks and Recreation District operates roughly 2,300 acres (930 ha) of public parkland. Sertoma Park stretches more than 3 miles (4.8 km) along the banks of the Missouri River. Within the park are several miles of biking trails and the Dakota Zoo.

This article uses material from the Wikipedia article "Bismarck, North Dakota", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0