Discover 11 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in Jamestown (United States). Don't miss out on these must-see attractions: Frontier Village, Stutsman County Memorial Museum, and St. James Basilica. Also, be sure to include National Buffalo Museum in your itinerary.
Below, you can find the list of the most amazing places you should visit in Jamestown (North Dakota).
Table of Contents
Frontier Village
Sculpture by Elmer Petersen. The "World's Largest Buffalo Monument" is a sculpture of an American Bison located in Jamestown, North Dakota at the Frontier Village. It is visible from Interstate 94, overlooking the city from above the James River valley. The statue is a significant tourist draw for Jamestown and the source of its nickname, The Buffalo City.[1]
Address: 500 17th St SE, Jamestown
Stutsman County Memorial Museum
Courthouse. The Stutsman County Courthouse and Sheriff's Residence/Jail in Jamestown, North Dakota was built in 1883. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
It was designed by architect Henry C. Koch.
The west wing of the building was added in 1926, and was designed by architect Gilbert R. Horton.
Its NRHP listing was consistent with a later statewide study of North Dakota courthouses.
The building was used as the courthouse for Stutsman County until the 1980s, when it was replaced by a newer building. Though plans called for the original building's destruction, ownership instead transferred to the State Historical Society of North Dakota, who is working to restore the courthouse and has listed the building as Stutsman County Courthouse State Historic Site.[2]
Address: 504 3rd Ave SE, 58401-4211 Jamestown
St. James Basilica
Parish church in Jamestown, North Dakota. St. James Basilica is a parish church in the Diocese of Fargo as well as a minor basilica located in Jamestown, North Dakota, United States. A previous church building, completed in 1882, served briefly as a cathedral in the 19th century. The present church building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 as St. James Catholic Church, and it was elevated to a minor basilica in 1988.[3]
Address: 622 1st Ave S, 58401-4648 Jamestown
National Buffalo Museum
Top attraction, Specialty museum, Museum
Address: 500 17th St SW, 58401-5433 Jamestown
Voorhees Chapel
Chapel in Jamestown, North Dakota. The Voorhees Chapel on the University of Jamestown campus in Jamestown, North Dakota was built in 1917. It was designed by architect Barend H. Kroeze in Collegiate Gothic style. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1977.
It is retardataire in its design.[4]
Franklin School
School in Jamestown, North Dakota. The Franklin School on Second St. SW in Jamestown, North Dakota was built in 1909. It was designed by architect Joseph Bell DeRemer.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 2002.
According to its NRHP nomination, the building is an '"impressive Classical Revival style structure" and "the style was in keeping with early twentieth-century social sentiment that educational facilities generally reflect a nobility of purpose. The ninety-two-year-old building exhibits exceptional integrity of materials and design."
The building now houses CSi Cable Services, but the historical integrity of the building remains intact. Visitors can embark on self-guided tours. Visitors can walk the same halls as one of the school's famous students, Louis L'Amour.[5]
Address: 312 2nd St SW, 58401-4117 Jamestown
Grace Episcopal Church
Church building in Jamestown, North Dakota. Grace Episcopal Church is an historic Episcopal church building located at 405 2nd Avenue, North East, in Jamestown, Stutsman County, North Dakota. Designed in the Late Gothic Revival style of architecture by British-born Fargo architect George Hancock, it was built 1884 of local fieldstone exterior walls and a wooden roof. Early parish records contain several assertions that George Hancock modeled the church after Christ Episcopal Church which had been opened in 1881, but if he did, it was only in a very general, not specific way. Hancock's later work St. Stephen's Episcopal Church is much more closely related to Christ Church, Medway. On December 3, 1992, Grace Episcopal Church was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[6]
Seiler Building
The Seiler Building on First St. E. in Jamestown, North Dakota was built in 1904. It was designed by George & Walter Hancock.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986.
According to its NRHP nomination, the building was nominated due to its association with O. J. Seller and architects George and Walter Hancock, its Beaux Arts architecture, and its "fine integrity of design, materials, workmanship, feeling and association."[7]
Elizabeth Apartments
The Elizabeth Apartments on Second Ave. NW in Jamestown, North Dakota were built in 1921. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
According to its NRHP nomination, the building was deemed significant "for its association with the business lives of the John H. Canhams and Ormsby McHargs, leading developers and owners of Jamestown's utility companies from 1888 to 1924" and also "architecturally and historically as the best example in the city of affordable multi-family housing constructed in response to the population boom in Jamestown between 1910 and 1920 when housing was scarce, Post-World War I labor costs were high, and there was a severe shortage of building materials."
The design was simple and extensively used stucco, which "directly related to the need for quick construction and the lack of good building materials, including brick, in the early 1920s."[8]
Alfred E. Dickey Free Library
Public library. The Alfred E. Dickey Free Library in Jamestown, North Dakota was built in 1917. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
According to its NRHP nomination, it is "a rare and fine example" of Prairie School architecture in North Dakota.
It seems to have been designed by Joseph A. Shannon and Henry J. Scherer. According to its NRHP nomination, however, it was designed by architectural partners "J. H. Shannon" and Henry J. Scherer. And according to a different NRHP nomination, from 1989, for the Devils Lake Commercial District, the Dickey Free Library was designed by "John A. Shannon", late in his career. These appear to be misstatements of the name of local architect Joseph A. Shannon.[9]
University of Jamestown
Private university in Jamestown, North Dakota. The University of Jamestown is a private Christian university in Jamestown, North Dakota. Founded in 1883 by the Presbyterian Church, it has about 1,300 students enrolled and has been co-educational from its founding. Until August 2013, the school was known as Jamestown College.[10]
Address: 6000 College Ln, Jamestown