Bismarck

Bismarck is the capital of the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Burleigh County. It is the second most populous city in North Dakota after Fargo. The city's population was 61,272 at the 2010 census, while its metropolitan population was 129,517. In 2015, Forbes magazine ranked Bismarck as the seventh fastest-growing small city in the United States.

Bismarck was founded in 1872 and has been North Dakota's capital city since the state was created from the Dakota Territory and admitted to the Union in 1889.

Bismarck is on the east bank of the Missouri River, directly across the river from Mandan. The two cities make up the core of the Bismarck-Mandan Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The North Dakota State Capitol, the tallest building in the state, is in central Bismarck. The state government employs more than 4,000 in the city. As a hub of retail and health care, Bismarck is the economic center of south-central North Dakota and north-central South Dakota.

History

Before the arrival of white settlers, present-day central North Dakota was inhabited by the Mandan Native American tribe. The Hidatsa name of Bismarck is mirahacii arumaaguash ("Place of the tall willows"); the Arikara name is ituhtaáwe [itUhtaáwe]. In 1872 the future capital city was founded at what was then called Missouri Crossing, so named because the Lewis and Clark Expedition crossed the river there. The new town was called Edwinton, after Edwin Ferry Johnson (1803–1872), engineer-in-chief for the Northern Pacific Railway. In 1873, however, the Northern Pacific Railway renamed the city Bismarck, in honor of German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, in hopes of attracting German settlers to the area and German investment in the railroad. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills the following year was the real impetus for growth. Bismarck became a freight-shipping center on the "Custer Route" from the Black Hills. In 1883 Bismarck became the capital of the Dakota Territory, and in 1889 the state capital of North Dakota.

Geography

Bismarck is located at 46°48′48″N 100°46′44″W / 46.81333°N 100.77889°W / 46.81333; -100.77889 (46.813343, -100.779004).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 31.23 square miles (80.89 km2), of which, 30.85 square miles (79.90 km2) is land and 0.38 square miles (0.98 km2) is water.

Education & Libraries

Elementary, middle and high schools

The Bismarck Public Schools system operates sixteen elementary schools, three middle schools (Simle, Wachter, Horizon), three public high schools (Century High, Legacy High School, and Bismarck High) and one alternative high school (South Central High School). The system educates 10,400 students and employs 1,500 people.

Three Bismarck Catholic parishes operate primary schools (kindergarten through eighth grade): St. Mary's Grade School, St. Anne's Grade School, and Cathedral Grade School. St. Mary's Grade School, founded in 1878, is the oldest continuously operating elementary school in North Dakota.

The city has two private high schools, St. Mary's Central High School and Shiloh Christian School.

Higher education

There are five colleges and a university in Bismarck. The University of Mary is a four-year university, operated by the Benedictine Sisters of Annunciation Monastery. Bismarck State College is a two-year public college, largest degree-granting institution in the city, and a member of the North Dakota University System. United Tribes Technical College is a two-year tribal college. Rasmussen College, a two to four-year private college, has a campus location in Bismarck. Sanford Health, formerly Medcenter One, operates a nursing school that offers a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. The campus is located just north of the medical center.

Libraries

Bismarck libraries include Bismarck Veterans Memorial Public Library and North Dakota State Library.

Culture

The Belle Mehus Auditorium, a historic building in downtown Bismarck dating to 1914, is a center for the arts in the area. Performances of Northern Plains Dance and the Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra are held there.

Theater companies in Bismarck include the Capitol Shakespeare Society, Sleepy Hollow Summer Theatre, the Shade Tree Players children's theater group, Dakota Stage Ltd, University of Mary, Bismarck State College, and various high school groups. The Gannon and Elsa Forde Art Galleries are at Bismarck State College. The Missouri Valley Chamber Orchestra, founded in 2000, is the community's newest orchestra and performs a variety of musical genres.

Recreation

Bismarck has a large park system and an extensive network of exercise trails. The Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, established in 1927, operates many parks, swimming pools, and several golf courses within the city.

Sertoma Park stretches more than 3 miles (4.8 km) along the banks of the Missouri River and within the park are several miles of biking trails and the Dakota Zoo.

The Parks and Recreation District operates roughly 2,300 acres (930 ha) of public parkland.

There are five golf courses in Bismarck: four 18-hole courses (Apple Creek Country Club, Hawktree Golf Club, Riverwood Golf Course, and Tom O'Leary Golf Course), and one 9-hole course (Pebble Creek Golf Course).

One of the main tourism attractions of the Bismarck area is Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park, located 7 miles (11 km) south of neighboring Mandan, North Dakota. It contains the partial reconstruction of Fort Abraham Lincoln, the headquarters of the 7th Cavalry and last command of George Armstrong Custer before the Battle of the Little Bighorn. It also holds On-a-Slant Village, a partially rebuilt earthlodge village that was once a home to the Mandan tribe. Guided tours of both sites are offered in the summertime. There are also a museum on park history, nature trails, and a campground.

Hunting and fishing are popular with hunting seasons for deer, pheasant, and waterfowl. Fishing is a year-round sport on the Missouri River bordering Bismarck. There are public docks on the river. From north to south, there is a dock at the Port of Bismarck, from which the Lewis and Clark passenger riverboat plies the Missouri; Fox Island Landing, about a half mile southwest of Riverwood Golf Course; and the Bismarck Dock at General Sibley Park, where there is a boat ramp and picnic facilities.

Near Bismarck are several dammed lakes, including McDowell Dam Lake, 6 miles (9.7 km) east of the city, Harmon Lake, 8 miles (13 km) north of neighboring Mandan, and two lakes a several miles west of the city.

In February 2007, Bismarck broke the record for most snow angels made in one place. A total of 8,962 participants came to the capitol grounds for the event.

Transportation

Bismarck Municipal Airport is south of the city and has the largest passenger volume in western North Dakota and the second highest within the state. The airport is served by United Express, Allegiant Air, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, and Frontier Airlines. A new $15 million terminal opened in May 2005. The previous terminal was built in the mid-1960s and expanded in the mid-1970s. A windstorm collapsed part of the roof connecting the expanded terminal to the original building, and it was decided to demolish the entire complex and build the new terminal.

The BNSF Railway runs east-west through the city. There has not been Amtrak service in Bismarck since the North Coast Hiawatha service ended in 1979. The closest Amtrak station is in Minot, north of Bismarck, where the Empire Builder line runs.

Two federal highways pass through Bismarck. Interstate 94 runs east–west through the city. The north-south U.S. Route 83 merges in north Bismarck with Interstate 94 and runs east for roughly 25 miles (40 km) before turning south.

The Capital Area Transit System (CAT) began operations in May 2004. This public bus system is operated by the Bis-Man Transit Board and has eleven routes throughout Bismarck and Mandan. Bis-Man Transit also operates a taxi service for senior citizens and people with disabilities.