Billings County Courthouse Museum

Introduction

Text-to-speech Audio

The Billings County Courthouse Museum is dedicated to preserving and promoting the history of the county. As its name indicates, the museum is located inside the historic Billings County Courthouse, which was originally built in the 1880s. The museum features a restored courtroom and jail dating to the pioneer era, and a wide range of items and artifacts on display including military and western firearms, barb wire, farm equipment and tools, frontier household furnishings, mounted animals, and Native American artifacts.

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The Billings County Courthouse Museum explores the history of the county. It was built originally as a house in the 1880s and later became the courthouse in the early 1900s.

Backstory and Context

Text-to-speech Audio

Billings County was established in early 1879. It was named after the president of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Frederick Billings, who owned large tracts of land in western North Dakota. French nobleman Marquis de Mores founded Medora in 1883, choosing his wife's named for the new town. He established Medora in the hopes of making it the headquarters of his meatpacking business (his plan was to raise cattle and ship meat to markets; the business ultimately failed in 1886).

The first courthouse was located in a two-story wood-frame building and located nearby the current building. Courthouse functions took place on the first floor and the second floor was used as a dance hall. At some point in the 1880s, the building that would become the present courthouse and was originally built as a house. In the early 1900s, it was converted into two apartments. At some point in the coming years it became the courthouse and was expanded at that time. It was enlarged again in 1913 and then later in 1953. It was used as a courthouse at least through the late 1970s. It is unclear when the museum opened. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.

Sources

"Billings County Courthouse Museum." Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. Accessed August 12, 2020. https://medora.com/do/history/billings-county-courthouse-museum/

Maddox, Dawn. "Billings County Courthouse." National Park Service - National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form. December 16, 1977. https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/77001016_text.

Image Sources(Click to expand)

Wikimedia Commons: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billings_County_Courthouse,_Medora_ND.jpg