Fargo's First House
Fargo's first house was built by Henry Moore and George Mann in 1869, when Fargo was a tent city in Dakota's Territory. Initially the house was close to the river channel, in today's Island Park, but because of the annual floods, it was moved. It moved yet again when the land office began accepting homestead claims. In 1872 the house served as the Mann-Moore Hotel and in 1875 it served as a jail. The city paid $15 per month for rent while a new jail was being built. The loft was used as the jail while the main floor was used to house the offices for the mayor and the sheriff.Henry Hector purchased and refurbished the house in 1892. He and his family lived in the house until his death in the 1940's. Some of the changes they made were an addition and covering the original logs in siding. The house then switched hands multiple times before finally being moved to Bonanzaville in 1953.
Forness Cabin
This cabin is an authentic reproduction of the single-level log cabins of pioneer days. In this region, log cabins were most common near rivers, where there was an abundance of trees. A main feature of this cabin is the cast iron stove. Located in the center of the room, its main use was for heating. Pioneers would not have to wait long for heat in the dead of winter because of the cabin's small size.Palmer Forness built the cabin from the remaining logs of the original cabin which was located in a park north of the Sheyenne River. After Palmer rebuilt the structure he donated it to Bonanzaville in memory of his father Albert in the summer of 1968.
Habberstad Cabin
This cabin was built by a group of Finlanders for Helmar and Emma Habberstad in 1874 near Kindred, North Dakota. Helmar had immigrated from Eidsvoll, Norway in the early 1880's. The family lived in the oak-log cabin until the 1950s when Carl Stenhjem, Emma Habberstad's cousin, purchased the land and cabin. Mr. Stenhjem donated the cabin to Bonanzaville in 1967.
Checkered Years House
This home was built in the late 1800s on a bonanza farm in Mapleton Township. Mary Dodge Woodward lived in the home with her children from 1882 to 1889. Walter, one of her sons, had been hired to manage the 1,500 acre bonanza farm for their relative Daniel Dodge. Walter was paid $1000 per year along with expenses. The land was used to grow No.1 hard wheat.Mary chronicled her life on the bonanza farm in her diary. The diary provides valuable insights on the life of a woman on a bonanza farm. For instance, Mary wrote that in 1882 there were only 2 buildings on the property but by 1887 there were 27 buildings. She wrote that people could easy mistake the farm for a town, especially if they were to build a saloon. She also writes that one winter the snow was as high as the second story window and, in another entry, that on a clear night it was possible to see the lights of Fargo from the upstairs window.After moving back to Wisconsin in 1889, Mary became ill and passed away in 1890. After her death her granddaughter, Mary Boynton Cowdrey, compiled her diaries into a shortened form, The Checkered Years, which was first printed in 1937. The book is available for purchase in the Bonanzaville gift shop.
Hagen House
The Hagen house was built in 1897 for Martin Hagen on a farm near Horace, ND. Three generations of the Hagen family lived in the home without running water or electricity. The house boasts a summer kitchen which was used for laundry, cooking, and anything that required a fire so the house wouldn’t become too hot in the summer months. There was a dry sink located in the main house were dishes could be washed in buckets of water since there was no running water.The house still holds many of the Hagen family’s belongings, such as the chest of drawers in the north bedroom, which was made by Martin Hagen in 1898, the clothing in the closet and upstairs bedrooms, the quilts on the beds, and trunks. The home also had an outhouse that was used year round by the many generations. The house along with the summer kitchen and outhouse arrived at Bonanzaville in 1969.
Houston Mansion
The Houston Mansion, a bonanza farm house, was built by David H. Houston in 1881 near Hunter, ND. Houston was a Scottish immigrant who, upon settling in the U.S., became a farmer, poet, and inventor. The elegant house included maple floors, cherry and oak wainscoting, walnut staircase, high ornamental ceilings, and large bay windows. Mr. Houston also had new heating systems with hot air furnaces installed in the basement. This heated the house using metal conduits and air registers. The home even had an indoor bathroom which was uncommon for the time. The original home cost is estimated around $7,000.The home you see today is only half of the Houston Mansion, the part was the Houston families living quarters. The second part of the home housed the kitchen and staffs living quarters. The Houston’s had the home split the moved the servant’s quarters across the road. One reason is that it was not proper for the field hands who lived in the quarters to live there with Mrs. Houston. Another is that it gets extremely hot in the summer if you are using the kitchen.David Houston is best known for his patent for a roll film apparatus, used to roll film in early cameras. He sold the rights to William Walker for $700. Walker then sold the rights to Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company of Rochester (Eastman Kodak). Conflicts between Eastman and Houston arose and Houston began to sell his improved designs to Eastman’s competitors. However, after his death, Houston's will left his remaining 21 photographic patents to George Eastman.David Houston married Annie Laurie Pencille on April 26, 1888 and together they had one son, David Jr., born in 1889. Eventually the house was moved to Bonanzaville in 1971 along with Arthur Town Hall, the Page Hotel and Brass Rail Saloon, and the Hunter Times building.
Trangsrud Elevator
The Transgrud House, from the same farm as the Trangsrud Elevator, was constructed around 1871. Amund Trangsrud emigrated from Norway to Cass County in 1870. Seven years later, he married Rikka Myrah and moved into this house where they lived until a larger house was built in 1908. The old house continued to be used as a bunkhouse for hired men during the summer, and was eventually used as storage.Amund and Rikka's grandson, Hank and his wife Joyce, began restoring the house in the early-1980's and donated the house and all its contents, along with a grain elevator, to Bonanzaville in 2009.
