Northern Exposure--Day 57

Since the city of Grand Forks did not offer much in the way of sightseeing we decided to take a drive down Interstate 29 to Fargo, a distance of about 70 miles. We were headed to Bonanzaville USA, a park operated by the county historical society. They have acquired many historic buildings from around the area and moved them to a site adjacent to the county fair grounds. Although we have been to other similar parks this one was one of the best. They have done a great job of restoring these buildings and furnishing them with period pieces. To the right is St. John's Lutheran Church which was chartered in 1898. Another building they have is the original Cass County Courthouse. The interior has been completely restored. A good example of how they have acquired period equipment and furnishings is the interior of a dry goods store.

In addition to the old buildings there are very large collections of restored vehicles and farm equipment. One large building held well over 100 restored tractors and another held other restored farm equipment. One building held a large collection of restored, vintage cars and trucks. The picture is of a 1935, left hand drive Rolls Royce that came from the Lord Mayor of Manchester, England.

Following our tour of Bananzaville we stopped off to see the Fargo Walk of Fame. This was started by a local music store owner who started getting celebrities to put their hand and foot prints in concrete squares, similar to Graman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. He originally had these in the sidewalk outside of his music store but as the collection grew it was moved to a plaza outside the Fargo Visitor's Center. Pictured here are panels by two Oklahoma boys, Toby Keith and Conway Twitty.