Downtown Grand Forks Walking Tour Expanded 2023
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Description
A walking tour of historic downtown Grand Forks.
1. Whitey's Café and Lounge
Whitey’s Café and Lounge served food, drinks, and entertainment to the local East Grand Forks community for over eighty years. The restaurant and bar survived Prohibition, several local floods, and multiple changes in ownership for nearly nine decades, but permanently closed its doors in 2010. The building is currently home to a new local restaurant, but distinct architectural pieces from the Art Deco movement, including the original stainless steel horseshoe bar, remains a focal point of the property. Serving as a visual reminder of the city’s foundation and its scandalous economic successes, as well as its resilience against adversity, Whitey’s Café and Lounge represents both the history of East Grand Forks and the possibility of its future.
2. Old Diamond Milling Company
The Old Diamond Milling Company was an integral part of the agricultural industry in Grand Forks, North Dakota from the late 1800’s to the mid-1900’s. Founded in 1881, the mill processed wheat into flour and was a significant contributor to the local economy. The mill was also the place that invented Cream of Wheat that is widely used today. Its strategic location along the Red River and the Northern Pacific Railroad made it a crucial player in the regional flour milling industry.
3. 1997 Red River flood hits Grand Forks
Following six snow storms and blizzards hitting this part of the country throughout the 1996-1997 winter, then followed up with extreme high temperatures in April and May of 1997, the Red River flooded, cresting up to over 54 feet in height, and devastated a few miles inland of the city. This 100-year flood cost millions in damage and destroyed most of Grand Forks's historic structures that were located near the river. Dikes and flood walls were soon established in preparation for future flooding, some constructed where the city's oldest buildings once stood. The flood and subsequent fire not only affected Grand Forks, but also northern and eastern North Dakota, some of western Minnesota, and lower halves of the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
4. 1882 Lynching of Charles Thurber
On October 23, 1882, an African American man named Charles Thurber was accused of committing sexual assault in a rural area nearly thirty miles south of Grand Forks, Dakota Territory. He evaded capture by local authorities until that night, when he was then brought to the Grand Forks County jail. The next morning, a mob of white residents from Grand Forks and the surrounding area stormed the building, sprung Thurber from the jail cell, and brought him to the Grand Forks Rail Bridge that spanned the Red River. A little past 4:00 PM October 24, 1882, the mob wrapped a noose around Thurber's neck, attached to the bridge, and pushed him off. No individuals were indicted in the murder.
5. Viets Hotel
On this spot where a dike now stands, the old Viets Hotel was located here when it was first completed in 1876. The hotel was Grand Forks's oldest retail establishment until its destruction in the 1997 Red River Flood. The hotel over the 120 years of its existence was also known by many other names, such as the Richardson House, Hall Hotel and Hall Apartments, to name a few. Known for its vernacular Greek Revival architecture, the hotel would suffer in types of neglect before its destruction.
6. Metropolitan Opera House (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
The Metropolitan Opera House (or The Met) is located in the downtown area of Grand Forks. The building, constructed in 1890, faces the Red River of the North and sits between the BNSF Railway tracks and a parking structure. At one time, the Opera House was considered the best opera house between Minneapolis and Seattle. Today, the building has been converted into an apartment building called the Opera House Lofts
7. New Hampshire Apartments
On this spot once stood the New Hampshire Apartments, a complex destroyed by the 1997 Red River Flood and subsequent fire. Designed by New Jersey architect, Joseph Bell DeRemer and constructed by the Canadian Dinnie Brothers, who owned a businesses in Grand Forks. Opened in 1904, the complex was used until its demise in 1997. A marker sits where the apartments once stood.
8. First National Bank (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
Originally home to the Scandinavian-American Bank, this 1915 structure was one of the largest in Grand Forks at the time. Over 2 decades later the building changed hands to the First National Bank and was still connected with that bank until 2000. Now it is home to Alerus Financial. During the 1997 Red River flood, this building was almost destroyed by the waters and subsequent fire. However, it was one of a handful not selected for demolition (and the only one in its block). From the outside is appears the same as it did when first constructed.
9. Telephone Co. Building (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
Constructed during the "building boom" that took place in Grand Forks during the 1890s and early 1900s, this building was a replacement for a previous telephone company building. Built in 1904, this larger building was able to be more suffiencent in its accessibility and containment of its equipment, since the previous building was too small. Being to small the large telephone pole and wires stuck out in the skyline like a sore thumb.
10. Ronald N. Davies Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse
The Ronald N. Davies Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse is a historic post office and federal office building located at Grand Forks in Grand Forks County, North Dakota, United States. It is a courthouse for the United States District Court for the District of North Dakota. Also and historically known as U.S. Post Office and Courthouse, the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places under that name. This 1905 building has been remodeled and expanded many times during its over 100 year history. Although suffering damage from the 1997 Red River flood, it survived enough to not have to be demolished. The building is named after Judge Ronald Davies. He was instrumental in 1957 in essentially overriding the decisions by Pulaski County's (Arkansas) Court by nullifying their injunctions and demanding the Little Rock School Board integrate their schools.
11. Grand Forks Herald Building
Serving Grand Forks since 1879, the Grand Forks Herald is both one of the oldest papers in North Dakota and the state's second largest circulation. Beyond the city of Grand Forks, the paper also serves northeast North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Although the paper's headquarters was destroyed by the 1997 flood and fire, the paper still won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for its coverage of the same flood and fire. The building was rebuilt, this time with a clock tower and symbols dealing with the flood.
12. Grand Forks Mercantile Building
The Grand Forks Mercantile Company is a building located near the Red River in Downtown Grand Forks. The site was constructed in 1893 and has served the various communities which have found themselves around it. From a Ford Motors dealership to Hugo’s food store, the site remained a fixture within Grand Forks for many years. This achievement and service have been denoted as early as October 1982 when the site was listed within the National Registry of Historic Places. Throughout various renovations of the site and changes within the city the Grand Forks, Mercantile Co. has managed to be utilized.
13. Northern Pacific Depot and Freight House
In 1878, railroads started to make their way to North Dakota. Since there was a lot of farmland available here, because the government pushed out the Native Americans, many settlers would take the train to go and settle the land to create farms. The Northern Pacific Depot and Freight House was able to accommodate all of the new people arriving but also goods and stuff coming and going. Now the building is no longer used for trains and railroads. Now the building is used for people looking to get mortgages. This is because the railroad changed from its original position to a more central area in the city, right along Demers Avenue going east to west and another one going north to south along 42nd Street.
14. Grand Forks City Hall
Grand Forks’ City Hall is a prominent and historic building that is part of the Grand Forks downtown historic district. Originally built in 1911, this building has always been dedicated to being a service for the public. Throughout its history, this building has served as a meeting place for the public as well as the central hub for local government and politics. Additionally, it gains its historical significance from its architectural styles—Classical Revival, Modernist, and Beaux-Arts—that many of the buildings in downtown Grand Forks were originally styled after as a part of the "City Beautiful" movement. Because of this, the city hall has become a central part of the historic architecture within Grand Forks.
15. Fire Hall Theatre
What was once the first Fire Department in Grand Forks North Dakota is now a theater. It was built in 1905 and acted as headquarters when the second fire department was built and occupied in 1908. The fire department was then bought by the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre in 1982 and produced its first show Dracula in 1983 after some remodeling. The theater is rumored to be haunted.
16. Grand Forks YMCA
In 1886 the original Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) of Grand Forks was established with the help of six churches in the Grand Fork community. The original YMCA had an attitude that it wanted to support young men in the Christian community and still supports these morals. Throughout the 1900’s the YMCA in Grand Forks has moved throughout a few different building and has had many different renovations to help the YMCA community more. Even with these projects and renovations going on the YMCA has continued to help people live an active life and has continued to support the Grand Forks community. The current YMCA building which was built in 1969 has continued to support the community along with providing a place for physical activity.
17. Skarsbo Apartments
Designed by Thomas B. Wells and built by Andrew T. Skarsbo in the late 1920s, the Skarsbo Apartments give modern people a glimpse into the life of pre-Great Depression Grand Forks. Between the years of 1920 and 1925, the population of Grand Forks rose by 5,000 making a need for housing apparent. By being one of the few still standing of the classical revival style of most downtown Grand Forks buildings, the still liveable apartment building is a great example of the housing shortage and cultural lifestyle in 1928. Looking into the Skarsbo Apartments is the same as looking at a time capsule.
18. Empire Arts Center
This landmark movie theater turned multipurpose arts center in the heart of Grand Forks has been a local cultural institution for a century. Originally constructed in 1919, this theater showed movies each year until 1995, before a brief hiatus that ended with the theater’s transition to the home of a multifaceted arts organization. After the 1997 Red River Flood and the subsequent fires that devastated downtown, the Empire became a point of unification for the community. Today, the Empire Arts Center offers a variety of venues and events.
19. Clifford Annex Building
The Clifford Annex Building was built in 1906 on Grand Forks' original townsite. It was built and originally owned by George B. Clifford, and designed by architect Joseph Bell DeRemer. It takes its name from an adjacent, larger building also owned by Clifford. In 1914 the building was purchased by Joseph Clifford. Over the next eight decades, the building would trade owners, until the flood of 1997. Following the flood, the building was destroyed and replaced by a new corporate center and its adjacent parking ramp. The demolished building was removed from the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.
20. Odd Fellows Building (Grand Forks, North Dakota)
Located in the southwestern corner of Grand Forks's historic downtown, this building was constructed in 1888 and was home to many civic organizations in addition to the Odd Fellows fraternal order. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is home to the Urban Stampede coffee shop, but most of the building has not been restored. The building was home to the Odd Fellows as well as the Daughters of Rebekah, the lodges of the Ancient Order of United Workmen, the Knights of the Maccabees, the Order of Foresters, the Grand Army of the Republic, and the Royal Arcanum. When not used by these civic organizations, the building was also used to host civic and social events during the 19th century. This 1888 structure survived the 1997 Red River flood and fire with only minimal damage.
21. Captain Alexander Griggs Statue, Grand Forks
This statue at the courthouse was dedicated in 2001 and honors Alexander Griggs, an early settler who is considered by many to be the founder of Grand Forks. Griggs filed the first land plat for the original townsite of the community in 1875. A steamboat captain and builder, Griggs played an integral part of the growth of the city during the steamboat era of Grand Forks. Griggs learned his navigational skills as a hand working aboard ships that traveled along the Mississippi River and he became an established pilot by the age of nineteen. Partnering with railroad magnate, James J. Hill, Griggs established a steamboat business on the Red River and built the Selkirk in 1871. After establishing the original town plat, Griggs vigorously promoted the early development of Grand Forks. He established the Second National Bank and the the local gas works among other enterprises such as the Grand Forks Roller Mill, the first brick city block of buildings, and the Griggs House hotel. Griggs was the city’s third postmaster and was politically active, serving on the City Council, the Board of County Commissioners, the Railroad Commission, and the first state constitutional convention. He also served as the mayor of Gran Forks from 1888 to 1889. He left Grand Forks shortly after that time and established another steamship line in 1893, the Columbia and Okanogan Steamboat Company. This line was based out of Wenatchee, Washington, and this was the location where Griggs died on January 25, 1903.
22. Grand Forks County Courthouse
The Grand Forks County Courthouse, constructed in 1913 by designers Buechner & Orth of St. Paul, Minnesota, is located in downtown Grand Forks. Famous for its immense attention to detail and impressive architectural design, it is the most expensive and largest courthouse constructed by Buechner & Orth. Its structural design was influenced by several architectural styles, such as Classical Revival and Beaux Arts, similar to many other historical buildings located in downtown Grand Forks as part of the “City Beautiful” movement. For decades, the courthouse has stood as a central symbol of the judicial branch of Grand Forks County. The courthouse was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 25, 1980.
23. Masonic Temple
The Masonic Temple was dedicated in 1915. Standing for over a century, Grand Masons of Grand Forks use the Masonic Temple as their headquarters to this day! With several chambers, including an auditorium, the Masonic Temple hosts all sorts of community events. The building, with its age and Renaissance Revival design makes it the perfect entry into the National Register of Historical Places. The lodge is remarkably preserved, surviving the 1997 flood with minimal damage to the building.
24. Dinnie Apartments
Built in 1903 by John and James Dinnie, the Dinnie Apartments provided Grand Forks with one of its first upscale apartment complexes. Designed to fit the needs of the growing city, these apartments provided housing for a growing upper middle class. The apartments' prominence in the city mirrored the prominence of their designers as the Dinnie brothers would both go onto become mayors of the city of Grand Forks and play a vital role in the area's society.
