Bonanzaville, USA

This pioneer village and museum in West Fargo, ND, makes you feel like you've stepped into the 1800s and 1900s.

Wander through original structures relocated here from across the region, including Fargo's first house, a schoolhouse, a saloon and hotel, a church, and a fully-stocked mercantile store.

The huge complex has over 40 buildings and 400,000 artifacts. As you explore the history of Fargo, docents dressed like pioneers will explain how life worked in the early days on the prairie.

Looking for fun things to do with kids in Fargo? Bonanzaville, USA, should be one of your top choices. Kids (and adults!) get to draw on chalkboards in the schoolhouse, work antique telephones in the pioneer telephone museum, and try boiled candy from the mercantile store (don’t worry, it’s not from the 1900s).

This Fargo attraction gives valuable insight into our earliest settlers, how they lived, what they possessed, and the challenges they faced.

HOURS
Please click on the website link above to see the most current hours.

ADMISSION
Adults: $12.00
Students (6-17): $6.00
Kids (5 & under): FREE
Military & Seniors: $10.00

TOURS
Pocketsights Walking Tours
• FREE
• Tour options include Agriculture, Full Village, Main Street, and Tech Innovations of the 20th Century

Download the Pocketsights app and learn as you walk through Bonanzaville with detailed history, photos, and even videos of the buildings throughout the pioneer village.

EXPERIENCES
Murder Mystery Dinners
• $30 per person
• 21+ event
• Call for next available date or to schedule a private event

Dress up and immerse yourself in a classic whodunnit mystery. It’s like life-sized clue, and everyone gets to play a part to solve the murder.

Paranormal Tours
• $50 per person
• 90 minutes of investigating
• Call for next available date or to schedule a private event

Move beyond museum barriers and discover the paranormal phenomenons that guests and volunteers have reported at Bonanzaville. Fargo has no other tours like it!

OTHER INFO
The buildings of Bonanzaville
We mentioned a few, but here are all the pioneer structures you can visit during your trip.
• Town hall
• Blacksmith shop
• Drug store
• Saloon and hotel
• Bandstand
• Creamery
• Courthouse
• Schoolhouse
• Train depot
• Fargo’s first house
• Log cabins
• Pioneer homes
• Harness shop
• Newspaper shop
• Bank
• Firehouse
• Barber shop

Host your event at Bonanzaville
Beyond being one of Fargo, ND’s top attractions, Bonanzaville also rents out their spaces for weddings, baby showers, birthdays, and corporate events. Give them a call to find out more.

FUN FACTS
• Bonanzaville got its name from the large Bonanza Farms that took over the area in the late 1800s.
• They’ve got an entire building full of antique organs… hundreds of them!
• You can take a tour of the first house ever built in Fargo.

HISTORY
The Cass County, North Dakota, Historical Society (CCHS) was organized in 1954 and became a nonprofit corporation in North Dakota in 1955. Later that year, they got into the museum business when the Pioneer Daughters donated the contents of their historic museum housed in the basement of Menard Hall at NDSU (then NDAC) to Bonanzaville, USA.

Since 1967, CCHS had been collecting buildings from around the county, and moving them to the location now called Bonanzaville, USA on land donated by the Red River Valley Fair. The name refers to the large Bonanza farms that once existed in the Red River Valley.

It wasn't until 1972 that a building to house the museum was constructed. Artifacts were then moved from Menard Hall to the new museum. Our collection now numbers over 400,000 items that are in either our permanent collection or our educational collection.

Over the years, CCHS has accumulated 41 buildings across 12 acres of land, many with historical significance or containing period artifacts, while others house the Eugene Dahl Car Museum, the Eagles Air Museum, the Moen Tractor Museum and the Law Enforcement Museum.

You're looking for a unique meeting space (and educational too)? Located in West Fargo, North Dakota Bonanzaville is a pioneer village with 12 acres, 43 historic buildings, 400,000 artifacts, and millions of memories. Bonanzaville is operated by the Cass County Historical Society, with a mission to collect, display and interpret artifacts relevant to the history and cultural heritage of the Red River Valley.