Bonanzaville, USA facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Bonanzaville, USA

Location	West Fargo, North Dakota, United States

Bonanzaville, USA is a cool history museum in West Fargo, North Dakota. It's like a whole village from the past! The museum is run by the Cass County Historical Society.

Bonanzaville has forty buildings spread across 12 acres. Many of these buildings are historic. They were moved here from other places in the region. Now, they create a fun village setting for visitors. Each building often has a special theme. You can see a prairie church, a general store, a drug store, and even Fargo's first house. There's also a schoolhouse to explore. The museum also has newer buildings. These include an aircraft museum and an automobile museum.

You can also find many other interesting displays. These include old horse-drawn vehicles. There are also firefighting vehicles and equipment. You can see medical and dental tools from the past. The museum has a law enforcement section. There is also a telephone museum and an old newspaper printing press. Bonanzaville has hundreds of thousands of items in its collections.

Visiting Bonanzaville

Bonanzaville is easy to find. It's just off Interstate 94 (Exit 343). It's about 2.5 miles west of Fargo, North Dakota. The museum village is open from May through September. However, some event spaces are open all year.

Fun Events at the Museum

The biggest event of the year is "Pioneer Days." This is the largest and oldest annual event in the Fargo–Moorhead area. It happens every year on the third weekend of August. Other popular events include the July 4 Celebration. There are also Ghost Tours and Paranormal Investigations. "Christmas on the Prairie" is another favorite. In November 2018, the TV show Antiques Roadshow announced they would film at Bonanzaville. They filmed there in June 2019.

What You Can See

Bonanzaville has many different exhibits. These exhibits help you learn about history.

Special Exhibits

An exhibit about the Jewish experience in North Dakota opened in 2017. It shares stories and items from Jewish history in the state. The North Dakota State University Fargo History Project also created an exhibit. This one was about the Spanish–American War. It opened in 2019.

Telephone Pioneers Museum

The telephone museum is in an old hardware store. Oscar Loken from Tower City donated the building. US WEST Telephone Pioneers helped turn it into a museum. This museum shows many old communication devices. You can see old telephones and switching equipment. There are also glass and porcelain line insulators. Much of the equipment came from the local Northwestern Bell Telephone Company. Old and new telephone cables are also on display. These cables were removed from Fargo in 1978.

The Telephone Pioneers group helps keep the equipment working. This means you can even make calls from one building to another! The museum has many cool items related to telephones.

A Brief Flood Event

In January 2019, Bonanzaville experienced a water spill. About 200,000 US gallons of water entered parts of the museum. The museum worked to clean up and restore the affected areas.

Gallery

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  A water tower for trains at Bonanzaville.

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  The Dobrinz School House.

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  A steam locomotive on display.

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  A view of the historic buildings.

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  A street scene showing the village layout.

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  An overview of the museum complex.

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  Inside the recreated Cass County District Courthouse.