Page 158 - Curriculum Visions Dynamic Book

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German money. However, that was not to be. Instead, the next year gold was found
in the Black Hills. It started a gold rush and Bismark was well placed to offer services to the prospectors. Bismarck was on what was called the “Custer Route” from the Black Hills. Bismarck was renowned for being an outlaw town with no laws and no limits. That was typical of prospector towns of its time.
The first passenger train crossed the Missouri in 1882, bringing never-ending traffic to the area.
The territorial capital of Dakota Territory was moved from Yankton to Bismarck in 1883. When the Dakota Territory was split into two states, North Dakota and South Dakota, Jamestown, ND was, at first, chosen as the new state capital for North Dakota. However, the citizens of Bismarck were having none of it, and they raided Jamestown for the state records. No one was prepared to try to get the records back, so the first capitol was begun and completed in Bismark in 1884. However, in 1898, fire destroyed much of the wood-built city.
One of the earliest grand buildings constructed of stone was the The old Northern Pacific Railway Depot, built in a Mission-Revival style in 1901.
Large hotels were built to bring tourists as well as businessmen to the area. The hotels were where politicians and businessmen.
By 1922 there was a vehicle bridge as well as a railroad bridge at Bismark. The Liberty Memorial Bridge completed the coast-to-coast link of U.S. Highway 10, and remained the only vehicular bridge within 500 miles for many years.
At this time Bismarck was still wealthy enough to have most national chain stores open premises.
In 1930 the second state capitol was destroyed by fire. At this time the most popular style was known as Art Deco, a reflection of the machine age. That was the style chosen for the new, and current, capitol. It was the tallest building in North Dakota
In 1953 the Garrison Dam on the Missouri was finally completed, reducing the risk of flooding and creating the nation’s third largest man-made lake, Lake Sakakawea.
Bismark had grown in the days of the railroad and gold rush. It was then dependent on road traffic on state highway 10 going through it and stopping overnight. But when the Interstate 94 was completed in 1965, it bypassed the city and led to a decline in it fortunes.
The opening of an out of town mall further caused a loss of business from downtown Bismark and many shops closed.
More recently shops have shifted back to each end of the city, so the downtown region is beginning to revive.