KVLY-TV mast - one of the world's tallet man-made structures.
Tommy Turtle
Bottineau
Tommy Turtle the world's largest turtle, which has become a landmark for the city. Built in 1978 and thirty feet (9 m) in height, the fiberglass turtle is located in the eastern half of the city and was built as a symbol for the nearby Turtle Mountains
Notable People
Duane Klueh, retired basketball player and coach; former head coach for Indiana State men's basketball team
Ryan Kraft, left wing hockey player with the German Kassel Huskies
Gregory R. Page, president and CEO of Cargill Inc.
Ronald Paulson, English professor, expert on William Hogarth works
Neal Peterson, musician
Tom Rapp, leader of the band Pearls Before Swine
Burlington
In 1997, Raymond Kuntz from Burlington testified before the United States Senate that he believed his son, Richard, committed suicide due to the influence of the band Marilyn Manson.[6]
On January 18, 2002, a severe train derailment east of the city sent a gigantic cloud of anhydrous ammonia toward Minot and Burlington. Power was knocked out to the residents of Burlington for many hours due to damage to power lines. Residents were unable to access radios or televisions due to this, although messages went out advising people to stay inside. One man died and many of the area's citizens were sickened by the noxious gas. The incident was one of the more major chemical spills in the country.[7] In early 2006, court cases were heard in Minneapolis, Minnesota, against Canadian Pacific Railway, the owner and operator of the derailed train. The anhydrous ammonia spill was the largest such spill in U.S. history. This incident was used by Eric Klinenberg in his book Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America's Media as an example of the failure of mass media, specifically local radio stations, to disseminate information to the public in an emergency.[8]
Notable People
Parker Hill, MLB pitcher
Cando
Notable People
Dick Armey, U.S. Congressman; House Majority Leader
Dave Osborn, running back for the Minnesota Vikings[14]
Fountain L. Thompson, U.S. Senator, lived in Cando
Casselton
2013 Train Derailment
On December 30, 2013, a westbound BNSF train carrying soybeans derailed approximately one mile west of Casselton. An adjacent eastbound BNSF train carrying crude oil struck wreckage from the westbound train (accident location 46°54′4.82″N 97°13′59.42″W). The collision ignited the crude oil and caused a chain of large explosions, which were heard and felt several miles away.[8][9][10] The resulting fireball created a massive cloud of black smoke, which prompted authorities to issue a voluntary evacuation of the city and surrounding area as a precaution. The National Transportation Safety Board conducted an investigation, and in 2017 issued findings of probable cause, starting with a broken axle on the westbound train.[11][12][13] Although no casualties were reported, as the crew of the crude oil train abandoned the lead locomotives before they were engulfed in flames as soon as they had derailed and come to stop in a snowbank,[14] the incident occurred in proximity to a populated area and renewed safety concerns regarding the transportation of hazardous materials by rail, especially in the wake of the Lac-Mégantic derailment in Canada earlier in the year. Casselton mayor Ed McConnell, acknowledging that the town "dodged a bullet", publicly called on the federal government to review the dangers and urged lawmakers to consider pipelines as a safer option.[15]
Casselton was home to the world's largest oil can pile/free standing structure. This tourist attraction was created in 1933 by Max Taubert when a Sinclair gas station occupied the lot that included a hamburger stand. It is approximately 45 feet (14 m) tall, and is made of thousands of oil cans. It was rescued from possible demolition in 2008 by a group of local volunteers.[20] Unfortunately, the business that agreed to house the pile temporarily wanted the pile off its property and the pile was removed to an unknown location.[citation needed]
Notable People
Andrew H. Burke, 2nd governor of North Dakota (1891–1893)
Jack Dalrymple, 32nd governor of North Dakota, (2010–2016)
Dwayne A. King, businessman and Minnesota state legislator
John H. Lang, highly decorated member of both the Canadian army and United States navy.
William Langer, 17th and 21st governor of North Dakota (1933–1934; 1937–1939), senator (1941–1959)
George A. Sinner, 29th governor of North Dakota (1985–1992)
Herman Stern, clothier, businessman, humanitarian, social and economic activist
Mark Weber, member of the North Dakota Senate
Cavalier
Notable People
Ashley Ford, Miss North Dakota 2004
Rob Hunt, selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the fifth round of the 2005 NFL Draft
John Kobs, men's baseball, basketball, and ice hockey coach at Michigan State University (1924–1963)
The town is known for the blizzard-related death of Hazel Miner, who would go on to be the subject of a song and memorials.
Cooperstown
Dick Johnson, chief test pilot for Convair
Gerald Nye, U.S. Senator from North Dakota
Kelly Bednar, American football player for the Los Angeles Rams
Devils Lake
Phyllis Frelich, Tony Award-winning deaf actress
William L. Guy, Governor of North Dakota
Rick Helling, Pitcher with several Major League Baseball teams
Ralph Maxwell, North Dakota state court judge and athlete
Mary Wakefield, Administrator of Health Resources and Services Administration
Owen Webster, Organic and polymer chemist
Dickinson
Notable People
LaRoy Baird, lived in Dickinson, former member of North Dakota Senate
Doug Beaudoin, born in Dickinson, former American football safety in the NFL
Bob Bergloff, born in Dickinson, former ice hockey defenseman
Byron Dorgan, born in Dickinson, former United States Senator
Edward Doro, born in Dickinson, poet
Cole Frenzel (born 1990), former division 1 collegiate and Major league baseball player, current professional outdoor enthusiast[25]
Clay S. Jenkinson, born in Dickinson, scholar, author, and educator
Bennie Joppru, born in Dickinson, former tight end in the National Football League
Kellan Lutz, born in Dickinson, actor, played Emmett Cullen in Twilight
Mitch Malloy, born in Dickinson, singer and songwriter
Ted Nace, raised in Dickinson, writer, publisher, and environmentalist
Herb Parker (1921–2007), lived in Dickinson, teacher and American football coach at Minot State University
Malachi Ritscher (1954–2006), born in Dickinson, musician and human rights activist
George Scherger (1920–2011), born in Dickinson, MLB coach, infielder, and manager
Dorothy Stickney (1896–1998), born in Dickinson, stage and film actress
Bill Swain, born in Dickinson, former linebacker for the New York Giants
Drayton
Baseball Capital of North Dakota
In 1958, Governor John Davis declared Drayton the baseball capital of North Dakota. Drayton won the state High School baseball championship every year from 1958 to 1963. In 1958 and 1962, Drayton also won the American Legion class A championship. After winning the state title in 1958, they went on to win the multi-state regional championship. These wins made Drayton the smallest town to win both the state and regional class A titles.[1]
Dunseith is best known for its proximity to the International Peace Garden. The port of entry at the Peace Garden is one of three 24-hour ports in North Dakota (the others being Portal and Pembina).
Dunseith is also the home of the world's largest turtle sculpture, the "W'eel Turtle", made of more than 2,000 wheels painted green.
John Berkey's 1976 Star Wars poster
Edgeley
Science fiction artist John Berkey was born in Edgeley in 1932.[11]
Ellendale
Notable People
LeRoy H. Anderson, Montana politician
Charles Halsted, Minnesota politician
Scot Kelsh, North Dakota politician
Debra Mooney, actress
Pete Retzlaff, NFL player
Enderlin
Notable People
Kenneth O. Bjork, educator and historian
T. Keith Glennan, space agency director
Gaylord T. Gunhus, United States Army chaplain
John Wall, North Dakota educator and politician
Cy Pieh, professional baseball player
Fessenden
Notable People
C. A. Bottolfsen, 17th and 19th Governor of Idaho; raised in Fessenden
Otto Krueger, served as North Dakota State Treasurer, North Dakota Insurance Commissioner and U.S. Representative during the 1940s and 1950s
KDRK-TV mast - one of the world's tallet man-made structures.
Glen Ullin
Notable People
Ivan Dmitri, (1900 — 1968), artist and photographer, lived in Glen Ullin from 1914 to 1918
Grafton
Albert "Happy" Chandler, 44th and 49th governor of Kentucky; US senator; commissioner of Major League Baseball; Chandler Field is named after him[17][verification needed]
Pablo Garza, mixed martial arts featherweight fighter with the Ultimate Fighting Championship
William E. Gorder, teacher, farmer, and North Dakota state representative
Les Lear, offensive tackle in the Canadian Football League and National Football League
Raymond W. Lessard, bishop of Savannah (1973–1995)
Clint Ritchie, actor (Clint Buchanan on One Life to Live)
Barry Tallackson, forward for the St. Louis Blues
Grandin
Notable People
Grandin was the birthplace of the abstract expressionist painter Clyfford Still.
Harwood
Notable People
Dane Boedigheimer, actor and filmmaker who is famous for creating The Annoying Orange.
Hatton
Notable People
Hatton is the birthplace of 20th century Arctic explorer and pilot Carl Ben Eielson
Kermit Edward Bye, federal judge on the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit
Aagot Raaen, educator and author
David Ellefson, musician
Hebron
Notable People
Gwen Sebastian - Singer-songwriter from The Voice.
Hoople
Hoople is probably best known outside North Dakota as the location of University of Southern North Dakota at Hoople, the fictional university created by Peter Schickele. (Presumably it is an extension campus of a fictional University of Southern North Dakota, since the real Hoople is located in the northeastern, not southern, part of the state.)
Notable People
Lynn Frazier, governor of North Dakota and United States Senator
Murdo George McIver, miner and namesake of McIver's Cabin.
World's Largest Buffalo
Jamestown
Jamestown features the World's Largest Buffalo, a 26-ft tall sculpture of an American bison, and the National Buffalo Museum
Notable People
James Harvey Brow (1906–1995), Los Angeles City Council member and municipal court judge, born in Jamestown
Anne Carlsen (1915-2002), nationally recognized educator, disability rights advocate, and psychologist who lived in Jamestown for 40 plus years and for whom the Anne Carlsen School and Center is named
Alf Clausen film and television score composer (The Simpsons)
Edward P. J. Corbett, English professor at the Ohio State University, born in Jamestown
U.S. Army general and first commander of TRADOC
Alfred Dickey (1846–1901), first Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota
Willis Downs, Philippine–American War era Medal of Honor recipient
Darin Erstad, former Major League Baseball player
Morris E. Fine, educator
Michael John Fitzmaurice, a former United States Army soldier and a recipient of the United States military's highest decoration—the Medal of Honor—for his actions in the Vietnam War.
John Grabinger, North Dakota Senator
Travis Hafner, former Major League Baseball player for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees
Richard Hieb, astronaut
Ronda Jean Rousey, UFC fighter
George W. Johnson, President of George Mason University (1979–1996)[30]
Anton Klaus, Mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
Louis L'Amour, author
Peggy Lee, jazz singer and composer
Lewis Marquardt, South Dakota state representative and educator
Eli C. D. Shortridge, third Governor of North Dakota from 1893 to 1895, was a resident of Larimore[11]
Truck Hannah, was a Major League Baseball catcher for the New York Yankees and a member of the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame. He was born in Larimore in 1889
LeRoy Mason, was a movie actor, born in Larimore in 1903
Clint Hill, United States Secret Service agent who was in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas. During the assassination Hill ran immediately to the presidential limousine, leaped onto the back of it, and shielded Jackie Kennedy and the already stricken president with his body as the car raced to Parkland Memorial Hospital. Hill was born in Larimore in 1932
Lisbon
Pioneer Lisbon newspaper publisher W.D. Boyce is credited with importing the concept for the Boy Scouts from England to the United States.
Downtown Lisbon is home to the Scenic movie theater, which was established in 1911. The Scenic is the oldest, continuously running theater in the United States.
Mandan
Notable People
Frank L. Anders, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient, engineer, businessman, amateur military historian and politician
Marlo Anderson, founder of National Day Calendar
Henry Waldo Coe, Mandan resident, among the first physicians in Dakota Territory, elected to state office, close friend of Theodore Roosevelt
Tony Dean, television broadcaster, columnist and conservationist. Dean's real name was Anthony DeChandt
Ivan Dmitri, AKA Levon West; artist, photographer and printmaker; gained international recognition as an artist for his etching "The Spirit of St. Louis"
Rachel Eckroth, Grammy-nominated musician
Ron Erhardt, born and grew up in Mandan, became head coach of the New England Patriots
Heidi Heitkamp, former U.S. Senator, resides in rural Mandan[34]
Tom Huff, Washington State Representative
Richard Longfellow, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient
Arthur Peterson, Jr., actor born and raised in Mandan
A. R. Shaw, educator and politician[35]
Era Bell Thompson, author and editor of Ebony magazine
Mantador
Notable People
Heidi Heitkamp, in 2012 the first woman elected as United States Senator from North Dakota and the second to serve, grew up here
Marmarth
The town is recognized for various historical events, including Native-American Lakota history, the discovery of the Dakota fossil and various other dinosaur skeletons, the attack on James L. Fisk by Sitting Bull, and several visits by former president Theodore Roosevelt.
Mayville
Notable People
Clarence Norman Brunsdale (1891–1978), U.S. Senator, 24th Governor of North Dakota
Gulbrand Hagen (1864–1919), newspaper editor and publisher
Ben Jacobson, men's basketball head coach at the University of Northern Iowa
RaeAnn Kelsch, North Dakota politician
Dean Knudson, Wisconsin politician
Jim LeClair, football coach and player
Lute Olson, former University of Arizona coach in College Basketball Hall of Fame
Michigan
The Michigan train wreck was the worst rail disaster in both North Dakota and Great Northern Railway history.[2] It happened on August 9, 1945, at Michigan, North Dakota, and involved Great Northern's premier train, the Empire Builder.
Minnewaukan
Notable People
Maxwell Anderson, playwright
Quentin Anderson, literary critic and cultural historian at Columbia University
Munich
Notable People
Quentin Burdick, U.S. Senator (1960–1992)
Martin Tabert, farmworker from Munich who was charged and convicted of vagrancy in Leon County, Florida, after being discovered riding a train without a ticket in December of 1921. Tabert was later leased to a lumber mill in Dixie County, where he was subsequently whipped to death by a mill foreman in February 1922. Public outcry following his death brought about the end of convict leasing by county jails in Florida.
The Stanley R. Mickelson Safeguard Complex
Nekoma
THE STANLEY R. MICKELSEN SAFEGUARD Complex was developed in the 1960s to shoot down incoming Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Built at a cost of six billion dollars in Nekoma, North Dakota, the site was a massive complex of missile silos, a giant pyramid-shaped radar system, and dozens of launching silos for surface-to-air missiles tipped with thermonuclear warheads. It included a PAR “backscatter radar" site, designed to follow missiles being fired from Russia, which it would shoot down over Canada.
However, due to its expense, and concern over both its effectiveness and the danger of detonating defensive nuclear warheads over friendly territory, the program was shut down, having only been operational for less than three days. Its massive tunnels were flooded. Today it is a military-industrial shell in the middle of nowhere, or in the words of one writer, “a monument to man’s fear and ignorance."
On February 15, 1936, Parshall recorded a temperature of -60 °F (-51 °C), setting a state record low temperature, which still stands today.[6] Relatively nearby Steele, ND recorded a state record high of 121 °F (49 °C) less than five months later.
Randy Hedberg, a former NFL quarterback, was born and raised in Parshall. Another notable native of Parshall is Raymond Cross, a stand out high school basketball player and now a law professor in Montana.[8]
Oil development
Parshall is, perhaps, best known nationally for its namesake Parshall Oil Field, which surrounds the town. The 2006 discovery of the Parshall Field started the North Dakota oil boom.[14]
Aspects of the oil boom near Parshall were presented in the series Boomtown on Discovery Communications cable channel Planet Green.
Ray
Notable People
Delbert F. Anderson, farmer and member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, was born in Ray.
Mary Sherman Morgan, inventor of Hydyne, which was combined with liquid oxygen to propel the first US rocket into orbit (1958), was born in Ray.
Claudia Meier Volk, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives, lived in Ray.
Rugby is often billed as the geographic center of North America
Notable people
Todd "Boogie" Brandt, radio personality with The Todd and Tyler Radio Empire
Harald Bredesen (1918-2006), Lutheran pastor[16]
Nichi Farnham, Maine state senator
Don Gaetz, Florida politician
Samuel Kirk (1904-1996), psychologist and educator[17]
Jon Nelson, member of the North Dakota House of Representatives[18]
Clifford Thompson (1904-1955), one of the world's tallest men[19]
Chris Tuchscherer, mixed martial artist
Larry Watson, poet, writer, and educator[
Scranton
Notable People
Warren Christopher, lawyer, diplomat and United States Secretary of State
Kat Perkins, vocalist on hit TV show The Voice (U.S. TV series)
Sheldon
Notable People
Thomas McGrath, poet and educator
Lynn Nelson, Major League Baseball pitcher
Sherwood
In 2015, after failing to turn Leith into an all white community, Craig Cobb moved to Sherwood. Craig has expressed a desire to turn the town into a white nationalist community.
Sheyenne
John Aasen, silent film actor known as the "Norwegian Boy Giant"
Lawrence Welk, musician and TV personality (The Lawrence Welk Show)
Johnny Klein, drummer for Lawrence Welk Orchestra
Toby Roth, U.S. Congressman from Wisconsin
Claudia Meier Volk, Minnesota state legislator and nurse
One of the Straightest Roads in th U.S.
Streeter
The city is at one end of what is considered the straightest road in America, with the other end being Hickson. The road consists of Highway 30 in the west to Highway 46 in the east.[5]
Sykeston
Notable People
Larry Woiwode, distinguished author, North Dakota Poet Laureate.
Travis Hafner, Major League Baseball player
Thompson
High school Championships
State Class 'B' track & field: 1997 (4th place)
State Class 'B' volleyball: 1997, 1998, 2004, 2005, 2018
State Class 'B' baseball: 1983, 1985, 1999, 2005
State Class 'B' jazz: 2010 (4th place)
State Class 'B' hip-hop: 2011 (4th place)
State Class 'B' football: 1993 semi-finalist, 1995 finalist, 1996 semi-finalist, 2010 semi-final loss, 2016 State Champions, 2018 State Champions.
State Class ‘B’ boys basketball: 2019 Champions
Valley City
Notable People
Jeff Boschee, professional basketball player
Paul Fjelde, sculptor; professor at Pratt Institute
John E. Grotberg, congressman
Peggy Lee, jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress
George W. Mason, chairman and CEO of Kelvinator and American Motors Company
James M. McPherson, Civil War historian; Pulitzer Prize winner
Gerhard Brandt Naeseth, genealogist; founder of the Norwegian-American Genealogical Center & Naeseth Library
Earl Pomeroy, congressman
Ann Sothern, film and TV actress with two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Herman Stern, proprietor of Straus Clothing, businessman, humanitarian, social and economic activist
Tyrell Terry, NBA player
Carol Thurston, actress
Frank White, eighth governor of North Dakota and treasurer of the United States (1921–1928)
Michael Wobbema, member of the North Dakota Senate
George M. Young, congressman, judge
Eric Sevareid
Velva
Notable People
Arnold Eric Sevareid (November 26, 1912 – July 9, 1992) was an American author and CBS news journalistfrom 1939 to 1977. He was one of a group of elite war correspondents who were hired by CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow and nicknamed "Murrow's Boys." Sevareid was the first to report the Fall of Paris in 1940, when the city was captured by German forces during World War II.[2]
Wapheton
Notable People
Art Anderson, former NFL football player
Sam Anderson, actor
Anna Astvatsaturian Turcotte, Armenian-American writer
Louise Erdrich (Chippewa), author, lived here as a child when her parents taught at the Indian boarding school
Sidney Hinds, Brigadier General and Olympian
Rose Thompson Hovick, inspired "Rose" character of musical Gypsy
Woodrow W. Keeble, World War II and Korean War era Medal of Honor recipient
Colin Masica, linguist
Porter J. McCumber, former senator
Jerome G. Miller, correctional institution reformer
Steve Myhra, former placekicker for the Baltimore Colts
William E. Purcell, former senator
David Richman, North Dakota State men's basketball head coach
Mary Shaw Shorb, research scientist
Ryan Smith, wide receiver, Winnipeg Blue Bombers
Russell T. Thane, long-time state senator
John Wall, North Dakota educator and politician
Clark Williams, state legislator
Washburn
Washburn is home to the North Dakota Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, which focuses on the Expedition's winter near the Mandan village. It houses a full-scale replica of Fort Mandan, which workers of the expedition built as their base, and one of the expedition's canoes.
Notable People
Jean Baptiste Charbonneau was born in 1804 at Fort Mandan to Sacagewea, a young Shoshone woman, and Toussaint Charbonneau, a French Canadian. As an infant, he was taken along by his mother on her travels with the Lewis and Clark Expedition. He became an explorer and interpreter, fluent in French, English, Shoshone, and other Native American languages
Clint Hill, Secret Service agent assigned to Jacqueline Kennedy, raised in Washburn[11]
Ernie Kell, mayor of Long Beach, California from 1984 to 1994
Bruce Peterson, NASA test pilot, born in Washburn[12]
Homer N. Wallin, World War II era Vice-Admiral in the U.S. Navy, born in Washburn[13]
White Earth
The community's recent growth due to the North Dakota oil boom is the subject of an Academy Award–nominated short documentary film, White Earth.
Williston
Notable People
James A. Abrahamson, retired USAF officer and first head of the Strategic Defense Initiative a.k.a. "Star Wars"
Larry Bergh, selected by the Chicago Bulls in the 1969 NBA draft, but never played
James R. Carrigan, United States District Court judge and Colorado Supreme Court justice, practiced law in Williston
Michael Dwyer, member of the North Dakota Senate
Sally Fraser, actress, born in Williston
Virgil Hill, silver medalist Olympic boxer (1984), four-time world champion boxer who lost his title to Xue Li[citation needed]
Darlene Hooley, congresswoman from Oregon
Phil Jackson, 11-time NBA championship head coach
Mark Lee, pitcher with the Kansas City Royals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Baltimore Orioles
Brent Qvale, professional football player
Brian Qvale, professional basketball player
Wimbledon
Notable People
Lonnie Laffen, politician, born in Wimbledon
Peggy Lee, singer raised in Wimbledon
Wyndmere
Notable People
Orin D. Haugen, World War II-era Army Colonel[9]
Chuck Klosterman, journalist
Hans Langseth, owner of the longest beard recorded
Zap
The town of Zap is probably most widely known for the
Zip to Zap (click for article)
riot, which occurred on May 10, 1969. The Zip to Zap was originally intended as a spring break diversion. Between 2000 and 3000 people descended upon the town after an article by Chuck Stroup, originally appearing in the North Dakota State University Spectrum newspaper, and then later picked up by the Associated Press, compelled busloads and chartered planes full of people from around the United States to go there.
