University of North Dakota, A Grand Forks Historic District: A Collection of Collegiate Gothic Architecture Unrivaled in the Midwest brochure

A 19-page brochure offering a short history, a glossary of architectural styles and three interpretive tours for the University of North Dakota core campus. From the brochure: "The University of North Dakota core campus is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its historic buildings, striking open spaces, and significant contributions in higher education and research to the state and nation. Events leading up to the establishment of a university in Grand Forks in 1883 were full of the political maneuvering typical of territories striving for statehood. Dakota Territory legislators scrambled to obtain lucrative and prestigious institutions for their communities. As political alliances formed, dissolved and reformed, George Walsh of Grand Forks quickly introduced “A bill for an Act Locating the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks, N.D., and Providing for the Government thereto.” That the “bill” was a sheaf of blank pages went unnoticed and, in the two days before it would be read in committee, Walsh wrote a real bill and substituted it for the fake. His bill passed and the University of North Dakota came to Grand Forks. This naming of UND was the first official use of the term “North Dakota,” six years before statehood. Grand Forks land developer William Budge donated twenty acres of flat, windy prairie a mile west of town and promised a $10,000 observatory. The Territorial Legislature issued bonds for $30,000 to erect a building and create a functioning University. Though the observatory was never completed, the ample acreage gave the young campus plenty of room to expand." Project funding was provided in part by a 2011 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the City of Grand Forks (project number ND-11-028) administered by the North Dakota State Historic Preservation Office (38-11-31941) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Grand Forks, North Dakota is a Certified Local Government.

University of North Dakota, A Grand Forks Historic District: A Collection of Collegiate Gothic Architecture Unrivaled in the Midwest brochure

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