Dunn County Museum contains various artifacts that include, but are not limited to: American Indian, Western, Farm Machinery, Religious, Military, Children's Artifacts, Household Items, Clothing, Photographs, and Furniture from the last 150 years. These items portray the history of Dunn County, ND. Oral Histories of current and former Dunn County residents are also currently being compiled.
Thanks to the very generous endowments given to the Dunn County Historical Society by Les and Dorotha Pelton, Dunn County Museum was able to be built in 1986 and now includes more than 20,000 square feet of display space, making it possible to house a vast array of historical items. We've created many individual display rooms, including an old-time school, church, post office, bank, barber shop, kitchen, living room, and bedroom. A handsome Knife River flint exhibit provides much information on the history of flint extraction and tool-making techniques.
Dunn County Museum maintains the largest collection of Leo Harris black & white photos in existence. Harris, a popular candidate for the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, was a Dunn County native. A whole afternoon can be spent perusing the historic images he captured during the 1930s and '40s.
Our spacious "Western Room" is filled with old saddles, horse drawn buggies, a forge, a chuck wagon, and other cowboy memorabilia. This room also showcases many built-to-scale replicas of Dunn County historical sites. As well, we have two large buildings filled solely with antique farm equipment and machinery.