Fargo is a city in the US state of North Dakota and lies on its eastern extremity. It is the North Dakota’s most populous city (approximately 122,000 people), accounting for nearly 17% of the state’s population. Fargo is the county seat of Cass County and along with its twin city of Moorhead (in neighbouring Minnesota) and the adjacent cities of West Fargo (in North Dakota) and Dilworth (Minnesota), forms the core of the Fargo-Moorhead, ND-MN Metropolitan Statistical Area (total population approximately 241,000). The photographs on this webpage are taken from a visit to Fargo in August, 2017.
Fargo is not exactly the first place which springs to mind when thinking about American tourist destinations. However, it is one of the places on the map the author of this webpage had always wanted to visit out of curiosity, whilst also getting the opportunity to see the nearby KVLY-TV mast which was once the tallest manmade structure in the world. Fargo was founded in 1871 on the Red River of the North floodplain. The city today serves not only as a grain-processing centre, but is also a cultural, retail, health care, and industrial centre for eastern North Dakota and north-western Minnesota. The city is an educational centre as well and is home to North Dakota State University.
Some facts about Fargo gleaned during the visit included the following:
•
The median age of Fargo’s population is 29.7, a fairly low age but
because the area is home to 25,000+ college students
• Sprawling across
48 square miles, Fargo itself is equal to the size of Boston
• The Fargo
Jet Center is ranked number two by pilots as best private jet terminal
in the Americas
• Since 1965, the North Dakota State University Football
Team has won 13 national championships - more than any other college
football team
• The Fargo Marathon is the number one favourite Boston
Marathon qualifying race
Fargo lies directly across the Red River from Moorhead and there are several notable sights in its historic downtown area. The renovated 1926 Fargo Theatre - a historic and iconic vintage cinema and event venue fully restored to its Art Deco glory which still presents art and period films as well as live performances, the Plains Art Museum - the state’s largest art museum located in a renovated 1904 historic warehouse featuring national and regional exhibitions of 20th and 21st century art, the Roger Maris Baseball Museum (in the West Acres Mall) - featuring exhibits, memorabilia and video of Fargo’s hometown hero and Yankees superstar who set a record for the most home runs in a season (61 home runs in 1961).
Other attractions in and around the Fargo-Moorhead area include Bonanzaville, USA (a history museum and pioneer village), the Children’s Museum at Yunker Farm (contains over 50 hands-on interactive exhibits), Comstock House (a home built by Solomon G. Comstock in 1882 and given to the Minnesota Historical Society in 1965), the Fargo Air Museum (home to aircraft of all eras), the Historical & Cultural Society of Clay County at The Hjemkomst Center (home of the Hjemkomst Viking Ship and Hopperstad Stave Church with Clay County artefacts and archives and a variety of events taking place each year), the Maury Wills Museum (which celebrates the career of former L.A. Dodger great Maury Wills), the Moorhead Center Mall, the MSUM Planetarium, Red River Zoo ( a 22-acre zoo which is the leading conservation centre for some of the world’s rarest cold climate species), the Rourke Art Gallery and Museum (features rotating exhibits of regional artists and a permanent collection of ancient and modern art), Scheels (one of the world’s largest all sports stores and more, in three locations) and the aforementioned West Acres Mall, which is the region’s largest shopping centre with four department stores, over 120 specialty shops and a spectacular food court. Some more photos taken from the Fargo-Moorhead area can be seen in the thumbnail gallery below (click on an image to expand):
The Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center
Perhaps the most pleasant surprise of all during the visit here was the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center. On reflection after this visit in 2017, during a three-week roadtrip in the USA and after another two-week road trip in 2018, it is probably one of the most wonderful visitor centres experienced. Whist the free popcorn and coffee were much welcomed, the staff on duty came across as most friendly, informative, helpful and interesting to speak to.
The primary attraction inside the visitors centre is the original woodchipper which was used in the making of Joel and Ethan Coen’s beautifully shot and wickedly funny 1996 film Fargo, which won two Academy Awards (Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay). During times when the visitors centre is closed, it is possible to see the film’s “stunt double” outside. Also on display inside the centre is a collection of memorabilia from the film including an original script. Another point of interest at the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center is outside and that is the Celebrity Walk of Fame, where over 100 celebrity signatures, handprints and footprints are displayed in cement, from Richard Simmons to Bill Gates. Some more photos taken from the Fargo-Moorhead Visitors Center can be seen in the thumbnail gallery below (click on an image to expand):
The Fargo-Moorhead area boasts a wide array of sporting events, activities and experiences, a variety of options for dining and nightlife, shopping, wineries, breweries, tap rooms, distilleries and meaderies as well as other attractions and events. See www.fargomoorhead.org for further updates and the latest information. As mentioned earlier on further up this webpage, as well as taking a look around Fargo, one of the other reasons for coming to this seemingly off-the-beaten-track part of the United States was to take a look at the nearby KVLY-TV mast which was once the tallest manmade structure in the world and this is featured on a separate page on this website Here.
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