Bob Visits His 49th and 50th States - Part 1, Monday, June 14, 2021

An accomplishment Bob wanted to achieve on this trip to Madison, Wisconsin, was to finish visiting all 50 states. He had two states left: North Dakota and Minnesota. We made sure to include them in our trip this summer. 

Today, we are going to do a 10k Volksmarch in Fargo which is North Dakota's largest city. Fargo was founded in 1871 when the first settlers staked out homestead claims at the point where the Northern Pacific Railroad would cross the Red River. The city was named for William G. Fargo, a director of the Northern Pacific Railroad, and co-founder of Wells Fargo Express Company.

In the early days, Fargo was a rough and rowdy frontier town with its fair share of bordellos and saloons. In 1876, the population was only 600. By 1892, Fargo had grown to a city of more than 8,000 inhabitants. Settlers were drawn to Fargo by the promise of cheap, fertile farmland in the Red River Valley. The population of Fargo in the 2019 census was 121,889.

I couldn't resist posing here.

As we started our walk, the first historical marker we saw told of the fire of 1893. It burned 31 city blocks, reducing the buildings to ash. 

By 1894, the Fargoans had rebuilt 276 buildings! Wow.

For the first part of our walk, we traveled around the downtown core of Fargo and North Dakota State University. 

We may see a few painted buffalo.

This is the opposite side of the 
buffalo above.

Colorful, downtown Fargo.

The clock in front of the Depot.

"North of Normal."

The Old Broadway Theater.

Next, we read about the Fargo and Moorhead Streetcar Railway.

History of the streetcar railway.

A tribute to the streetcars.

Royal Jewelers clock.

A history of the Black Building...think
Sears Roebuck!

Another painted buffalo.

The Fargo Theater, home of
the "Mighty Wurlitzer,"
a restored theater pipe organ.

The First Presbyterian Church.

The First Presbyterian Church.

KLAI Hall Architecture, North 
Dakota State University.

Sons of Norway Lodge in Fargo.

It's 80° at 9 a.m., another hot day.

Richard H. Berry Hall at the university.

Earlier in the walk, we had the historical marker about the big fire in 1893. Here is more input on that fire.

Fargo Fire Department.

Island Park & Fargo fire.

A pretty painted bench.

The all-important railroad which made
so many towns possible in the U.S.

Wait! What? Aren't we in Fargo, North
Dakota??? "A Taste of Seattle?"

We exited the buildings of downtown and headed into Island Park. The shadows from the trees dropped the temperature about ten degrees. It was a welcome change. We walked past the Angel of Hope and Civil War Memorial statues and passed an old stadium and tennis courts.

Henrik Wergeland.

Plaque for the statue above.

Lots of wonderful trees in Island Park!

As we exited Island Park, we read the children's poems immortalized in the cement sidewalk.

By Natalie J., Age 11.

The neighborhood where we walked next had some amazing homes. And a mystery.

Beautiful!

Colorful and unique.

Brick McMansion.

The homes here are gorgeous!

A modern Tudor.

All the trees of this type in this section 
of Fargo have a black line around them.
Why?

We asked a couple of ladies who lived in the neighborhood why so many trees had a black line around them. They said it's because of black borer beetles that defoliate and kill the tree. The "line" is an insecticide to keep them off.

When we got to one point in the neighborhood, our instructions had us go to the top of the dike by the Red River of the North. If there was no mud on the trail, we could go along the hike/bike path near the river. If there was mud, we should go back to neighborhood streets.

The dike wall. 

There wasn't any flooding or mud, so we took the hike/bike path all the way to Veterans Memorial Bridge. Again, we loved walking in whatever shade we could find.

The Red River of the North.

Red River Trail.

Red River Trail.

Red River of the North.

At this point, we came to the Veterans Memorial Bridge. What can I say? This bridge has a wonderful veterans memorial on it. The bridge also has a wealth of history factoids all along it! The next 15+ photos are all from the bridge!

Statue of Liberty replica. 
(See plaque in photo below.)

The next group of photos are from a history marker at the lower street-level bridge undercrossing. 

To finish our 10k walk in Moorhead, Minnesota, we walked around Woodlawn Park and then back across the bridge to Fargo, North Dakota. 

Woodlawn Park, Moorhead, Minnesota.

Once we got back to the truck, we decided to go back to the 5th wheel for lunch. Bob is thrilled that he met his goal of visiting all 50 states. [NOTE: I visited my 50th state in 2019.]

However, if you know us, our day isn't over yet!

Stay tuned for Part 2.