Getchell Township Hall

This building was originally known as Getchell school #1, built in 1880. The school closed in 1948 and is still occasionally used for special events during the summer.​

 

Mel Reiman Recreation Area

The Sheyenne River which forms the lake is home to a recorded 53 species of fish. Lake Ashtabula is also home to the more popular northern pike, walleye, white bass, yellow perch and black bullheads. The Corps of Engineers actively manages 2500 acres of grassland, woodland and shrub land at the Lake Ashtabula Project.

​​

Baldhill Dam

The Sheyenne River Water Conservation Association was organized at a meeting on July 16, 1936. A letter was written to President Franklin Roosevelt urging the construction of a dam as a water conservation and flood control project. It was authorized by Congress in 1944. The dam was completed in 1951. The reservoir is approximately 27 miles long and over a half mile wide. It covers an area of 5,234 acres. The dam was named by the Native Americans for the surrounding hills which are basically treeless.

 

North Country Scenic Trails

The area just above the dam is also a trail head for the North Country Trail. The North Country Trail is a national scenic trail which extends from New York State to Lake Sakakawea. When completed it will be about 4,600 miles. There is about 35 miles along the Lake which has been built and certified by the Corps of Engineers.

 

Faust Park Recreation Area

Once the home of a Soo Line railroad station named Faust, the site boasted grain elevator, cattle corral with loading chute and a dam on the river. This station was named for the Faust brothers who came here in 1882. All that remains is the remnants of the dam which is now a popular fishing, canoeing and picnicking spot created by the Barnes County Wildlife Federation.

 

Valley City National Fish Hatcheries

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the primary Federal agency responsible for stewardship of the nation’s fish and wildlife resources. The Valley City National Fish Hatchery was built from 1938 to 1940 and the Baldhill Dam National Fish Hatchery in 1952. Stocking fish at the hatcheries include pike, walleye, muskellunge, Tiger muskie, large and smallmouth bass, channel catfish, blue gill, crappie, and yellow perch.

 

Valley City – City of Bridges Tour

Maryvale Bridge: A wooden bridge was originally built at this site in 1935. Damaged over the years by farm traffic, trucks from nearby gravel pits, and occasional flooding, the bridge was reconstructed in 1969 and then totally replaced in 1995. Maryvale is the Provincial Center for the Sisters of Mary of the Presentation for the United States Province. The Sisters of Mary of the Presentation is a Roman Catholic religious women's community founded in 1828 in Broons, France.

​

West City Park Bridge: This bridge was built in 1929 and is similar to The East Park Bridge which was built in 1925.The West City Park Bridge was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997. In 2007 the bridge was replaced with a replica bridge for safety reasons. The 9.25 acres of land known as City Park was first owned by the Northern Pacific, then purchased by land developer B.W. Benson. In 1879, Benson platted it for development with residential properties along the river. The center was set aside for a park. Benson later sold the rest to the city creating City Park. .

 

City Park Footbridge: With a bridge built connecting it to Main Street, the park became a center of recreational activities such as picnicking, boating, quiet reading, strolling and carriage rides on the street that once followed along the riverside. In the winter, a community skating rink was located below the footbridge. Originally a wooden structure, it was replaced with the current steel walk bridge in 1911.

 

VCSU Footbridge: A wooden footbridge (originally a single plank with handrails) across the Sheyenne opened in the fall of 1892, linking the college to the city. The ornate bridge was built in 1901. It is a three-span, 150 foot long suspension bridge-- the only one of its kind in North Dakota. A small car was driven across the bridge in the 1990’s. The bridge was restored back to it’s original form.

​

Mill Dam Bridge: The original bridge in this location was a wooden structure built in 1898. This was replaced in the winter of 1936-37 with a reinforced concrete structure. This second bridge was built by T.M. Swingen & Son. When it was replaced in 1991, the new concrete bridge was built by his great-grandson, Jim Swingen.

Located to the east next to the dam was the first flour mill built in Valley City in 1878. The original output of the mill was only a few hundredweight of flour per day but the company eventually became the fourth largest milling firm in the nation. The mill closed its doors in 1963.

 

Rainbow Bridge: This is the sight of the first bridge built in Valley City. The cut in the bridge bank to the north is the location of the Northern Pacific railroad bridge which gave the town its first name of Second Crossing of the Sheyenne. The first train crossed here on Sept. 15, 1872. The original East Main bridge was a wooden structure built in 1879. When the wooden bridge was replaced by a steel structure in 1899. The Marsh Arch bridge was built in 1925-26. This bridge is unique in that concrete arches carry the weight. It is the only one of its kind in North Dakota. Due to safety considerations the Rainbow Bridge was replaced with a replica bridge in 2004. The original plans were used for construction of the new bridge.

 

Hospital Bridge: This 3-span, 255 foot bridge, featuring a poured concrete deck and superstructure on rolled steel girders with pilings extending 70 feet below the substructure, was built in 1982. The original wooden bridge was built in 1929 to provide easier access to the Country Club and Northwest Nursery farm. The bridge was virtually rebuilt in 1954 before being replaced by the present concrete structure.

 

Highline Bridge: The original line of the Northern Pacific Railroad descended from the east, crossed the Sheyenne River at Valley City over a low bridge, and climbed out of the valley to the west. Because of the depth of the valley, the grades on either side of the river were severe. To avoid these severe grades, the new or "High Line" was built one mile upstream. At 3,860 feet long and 162 feet above the river bed, the Highline Bridge is one of the longest and highest single-track railroad bridges in the nation. Work began on June 30, 1906. The first official train crossed the trestle on May 12, 1908 and regular train service over the bridge began May 20th.

 

Medicine Wheel Park

This rock monument is a reconstruction of a Native American solar calendar made of rock and boulders also known as a “medicine wheel”. Built in the fall of 1992 by the VCSU astronomy class, the medicine wheel works like a calendar by indicating the beginning of each season. The interpretive panel explains how to use the Medicine Wheel.

 

Native American Burial Mound Complex

Located on Granger Hill above the campus of Valley City State University is the site of an extensive burial mound complex. The complex was comprised of 13 conical, one oval and six linear mounds dating from the late prehistoric period. .

 

The Riparian Restoration Interpretive Site

The Riparian Restoration Interpretive Site is a river environment education site, sponsored by the Barnes County Soil Conservation District. It is also a bio-engineering stream bank restoration demonstration site, native plant arboretum, picnic area and canoe landing.

​

Country Junction at King School

King School was the last one-room schoolhouse in Barnes County to close its doors. School has been out since 1967. Once the one-room schoolhouse dotted every township in Barnes County. Country Junction at King School now serves as a country store of sorts, offering crafts and collectibles for sale. .

 

Daily Site

The first school district organized in Barnes County was the Daily school district a few miles south of here in the winter of 1878-79. Church meetings, political meetings and entertainments such as suppers, social, dances and debates were often held in the school house. Schools in Barnes County held longer terms than the rest of North Dakota. Barnes County teachers received higher wages than the state average. The percentage of women teachers was also higher in Barnes County than statewide.

 

Clausen Springs

The first written history of the Clausen Springs area begins in 1839 when General Charles Fremont and Joseph Nicolas Nicollet camped for two days. A large group of Indians and half-breeds were camped here hunting buffalo. It was well known among Indians, fur trappers, and hunters from Pembina as a prime camping spot known as Birch Creek. In 1879, three brothers by the name of Clausen settled here. They were Norwegian immigrants. The Barnes County Park Board purchased the land in 1967 and with the cooperation of numerous government agencies succeeded in creating a new county park named Clausen Springs Recreational Area.

 

Kathryn

The town of Kathryn was founded in 1900, when the Casselton branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad was built to Marion. The town was named for one of the daughters of C. S. Mellon, president of the railroad. The “Old Round House” of the Kathryn elevator is a concrete structure built on a patented design called the “Brahtz Perfection” after its architect-designer, J. H. A. Brahtz.. It was the first of the kind to be erected in the United States.

 

Kathryn Dam

Myron Walker built a dam here around 1906, preparing to move his mill to be closer to the new road and Kathryn but it was undercut during some water rights troubles and it washed out causing Walker to give up the idea. The dam here now was built by the WPA in the late 30’s.

 

Wadeson Park State Historic Site

Carl Jensen and his nephew John Bjerke built this hand-hewn log home in 1878 from the stately oaks which line the banks of the Sheyenne River. A history of log cabin construction is given at this site.

 

Waldheim Church

The Waldheim church was organized in 1886 by Reverend Nils Forde. The land for Waldheim church and cemetery was donated by Carl Jenson who built the cabin at the Wadeson Park State Historic Site. The first pioneer to be laid to rest in the cemetery was Jens Jenson Bjerke, Carl’s father in 1879.

 

Little Yellowstone Park

Little Yellowstone offers complete hookups for RV campers in the main park as well as beautiful and private primitive campsites for the more adventurous. A large picnic shelter is also available for group gatherings.

 

Standing Rock State Historic Site

The Sioux Indians consider this spot sacred. The four foot tall rock which gives the site its name is an inverted cone shape which stands on a complex of prehistoric burial mounds dating from the Woodland Period or about 600 to 2000 years ago. The explorers Fremont and Nicollet noted this landmark on their maps during their expedition of 1839, as did General Sibley during his expedition in 1863. This whole hill is actually a huge boulder of Niobrara Shale that was moved about 3 miles from the northeast by the Wisconsin glacier. A cluster of lakes and sloughs marks the depression from which the hill was taken. This glacial action is called a thrust moraine. The Standing Rock itself is a boulder of metamorphic gneiss, transported to this area from Ontario by the ice.

 

Preston Church

The Preston congregation was organized in 1881. The present church was completed in 1956, after the original building burned down in 1953. What is now the scenic byway along the valley from Highway 46 to Fort Ransom was originally an Indian footpath. One of the early Preston area settlers, Amos Olson, is credited with clearing most of the valley road between Preston and Fort Ransom.

​

Slattum Cabin

Theodore P. Slattum was one of the largest landowners in Ransom County. He was born in Christiania (now Oslo), Norway, on August 18, 1836 being the oldest son in a family of five children. He immigrated to Minnesota from Norway in 1870. Mr. Slattum moved here in 1879 with an ox team and forty dollars in his pocket, building a dugout for temporary living quarters until the cabin could be built. Seven children were raised in the cabin. Mr. Slattum owned about one thousand acres of land.

​

 

Fort Ransom State Park

This 887-acre park, opened in 1979, provides for a wealth of outdoor activities including camping, fishing, picnicking, horseback riding, canoeing, cross country skiing, hiking and nature photography. The Bjone home, built in 1879 by Nils Olson, located just inside the park entrance is used as a visitor center and tells the story of the Sheyenne River Valley.

​

 

Sunne Demonstration Farm

Andrew Sunne emigrated from Norway and settled here in 1884. He was a horticulturist, a breeder of plants. He was known for developing two kinds of wheat. The barn was ordered by mail order in 1914. The boards were numbered and the Sunnes put it together by number. This is now a demonstration farm and is the site of the annual Sodbuster Days events. The Fort Ransom Sodbusters Association demonstrates the farming methods and lifestyles of the past.

​

 

Tall Grass Prairie

Tall grass prairie once covered nearly 400,000 square miles of North America. Today, less than one percent of this ecosystem remains, with a good representation located within the boundaries of the Fort Ransom State Park.

​

 

An Ancient Sea

Eastern North Dakota was covered by the Western Interior Seaway between sixty and ninety million years ago. This warm subtropical sea was less than 500 feet deep and stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico. More recently, about 13,000 years ago, the Sheyenne River Valley was carved by torrents of water melting from the vast ice sheet that covered Canada and eastern North Dakota called the Wisconsinan Glacier. At the height of this flow, the Sheyenne River filled the entire valley from rim to rim cutting a trench that can be as deep as 330 feet and a mile wide.

​

 

Pyramid or Viking Hill

Geologists believe that Pyramid Hill is a natural feature, the result of glacial action and erosion. Some area residents, however, believe the top one-third of the hill is man-made and possibly among the world’s oldest pyramids, being built an estimated 5000 to 9000 years ago by an ancient civilization! The Fort Ransom Commercial Club commissioned a Viking Statue in honor of the largely Norwegian population in 1972. Native American traditions say that the Pyramid Hill was a place of emergence into this world.

​

 

Ransom County Museum

Formerly a general store built by T. J. Walker in 1907-08, the building has housed the museum of the Ransom County Historical Society since 1972. In the 1960’s it also contained the Fort Ransom post office. The foundation contains a large number of the cut stones salvaged from the old abandoned fort buildings. The store, mill, dam and the former ice house were listed on the National Registry in 1979 as the T.J. Walker Historic District.

​

 

T. J. Walker’s Mill

Built in 1881, Tyler Walker started out with a log and rock dam and a saw mill, first sawing lumber for the area settler’s homes, then grinding grain for flour and feed for their stock. Tyler Walker built two stores and a large 20 room house at his mill site and owned a large cattle herd. He continued to operate the mill until 1919, producing “Hold the Fort” brand of flour.

​

 

Standing Rock Church

The Standing Rock Norwegian Evangelical Congregation was organized in the home of Nels Olson on February 23, 1882. This house now serves as the office and visitor center at the Fort Ransom State Park. The land for the church was donated by T. J. Walker in 1888 and the church building took several years to complete. 

​

 

Fort Ransom State Historic Site

Established on June 18, 1867, this was one of a chain of forts in Dakota Territory built to protect wagon trains on their way to the gold fields of Montana, pioneer settlers, and railroad workers. Its buildings were of log construction and provided quarters for 200 enlisted men and seven officers. When the railroad was constructed farther to the north, Fort Seward was built at Jamestown and Fort Ransom was no longer needed. The fort was abandoned on May 27, 1872. Fort Ransom was named for Brevet Major General Thomas Edward Greenfield Ransom who served with distinction during the Civil War.

​

 

Writing Rock

Writing rock contains incised inscriptions consisting of long, straight grooves, circles, and some irregular lines and strange figures. Geologists believe that the lines and grooves were cut by the glaciers that brought the rock to this location, but some believe the markings are the work of prehistoric peoples. Several interesting Native American legends are connected with this stone.

​

 

Sheyenne State Forest

Although North Dakota ranks 50th in the nation for tree cover, its forests cover almost 673,000 acres—roughly the size of Rhode Island. The Sheyenne State Forest was established in the 1970s and is managed by the North Dakota Forest Service. The forest takes covers 509 acres and includes a wide variety of tree and other plant species. Mineral springs occupy the western part of the forest and include a small, waterfall that flows year-round.

​

 

Harris Ford

This was a low water crossing, or “ford” on the army trail between Fort Ransom and Fort Abercrombie. In June, 1867, General Alfred Terry organized an expedition from Fort Snelling, Minnesota, to the prairies of Dakota and establish additional posts for the control of the Indians. General Terry’s guide was Pierre Bottineau, an experienced and knowledgeable traveler of the plains of Dakota. The low water trail, cut straight across the prairie and crossed the Sheyenne at Harris Ford.

​

 

Bissell Golf Course

Located on the south end of the byway is a kiosk at the Bissel Golf Course, a beautiful and challenging nine-hole course along the Sheyenne River.