A guide to the local museums for you and your family to explore!

Plains Art Mesuem

The Plains Art Museum hosts the Creativity Among Native American Artists initiative that works to increase knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Native American art, values, worldviews, and histories among Native and nonNative people alike.

The Plains Art Museum was founded in 1965 and was originally called the Red River Art Center. Its original location was in Moorhead, MN, but it moved to Fargo in 1996. This art museum features unique local and regional art, as well as some national pieces, too. If you like creating art, there are even some studio spaces that are available to rent out, or you can take a class on anything from ceramics to stained glass to drawing and painting. Find out more about the Plains Art Museum online at plainsart.org.

Rourke Art Gallery + Museum

The Rourke offers monthly “Coffee and Critique” events, where local artists can bring unfinished work and get an outside perspective from other artists and community members.

The Rourke Art Gallery + Museum is a huge part of the Fargo-Moorhead community, supporting and displaying local and regional artists as well as selling their work. Opened in 1960, the museum has been part of local culture for over 60 years. The building that houses the gallery and museum has been home to many businesses, like the Moorhead Post Office and the Plains Art Museum, before being bought by the Rourke Art Gallery. Find out more about the Rourke at therourke.org.

Fargo Air Museum

The Fargo Air Museum’s flight simulators—machines that mimic flying in a real plane, complete with computer-generated images to mimic the pilot’s view—have over 30 kinds of aircraft to choose from, and have a virtual reality option!

Planned in the late 1990s by a group of pilots, military folks, and plane restorers, the Fargo Air Museum opened in 2001. The Air Museum aims to promote interest in Aviation through education, preservation, and restoration. They offer classes for people of all ages to learn about aviation. Occasionally, their historic planes even take flight! Learn more about the Fargo Air Museum at fargoairmuseum.org.

Cass County Historical Society/Bonanzaville, USA

Bonanzaville’s old buildings may be haunted—the society hosts paranormal investigations throughout the month of October!

The Cass County Historical Society, also known as Bonanzaville, USA, was founded in 1954. The name Bonanzaville refers to the Bonanza farms that used to exist in the Red River Valley. Their historical site consists of a museum, as well as over 40 buildings, some of which were transported to Fargo for preservation. Bonanzaville houses several individual museums, as well as displaying significant Period Artifacts in the buildings with more historical significance. The historical society also offers cool holiday events for Christmas and Fourth of July! Find more info about Bonzaville, USA at bonanzaville.org.

Roger Maris Museum

In 2022, Aaron Judge broke Roger Maris’s American League home run record with 62 home runs! Maris had previously held the record at 61.

Roger Maris was a baseball legend and a Fargo legend. In 1961 he broke Babe Ruth’s home run record, and that led to acclaim in the baseball world and beyond. Maris wanted his museum to be visible, accessible and free, so the founders created his exhibit within the West Acres Mall in Fargo. If you go to the mall, it is hard to miss his museum! The small museum exhibit includes a room to watch historic game footage with actual Yankee Stadium seats, a replica of his Yankee Stadium monument, a replica of his locker, and other artifacts from his youth and Major League days.

Hjemkomst Center

The Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead houses a replica Viking Ship, the Hjemkomst, built by Moorhead resident Robert Asp between 1974 and 1980 in Hawley, MN. The name Hjemkomst means “homecoming” in Norwegian. After a homecoming journey to Norway, the Hjemkomst took up permanent residence in Moorhead. Learn more about the Hjemkomst’s construction and journey here.

The Fargo-Moorhead Science Museum | Coming Soon!

After a poll in 2018 revealed that the Fargo-Moorhead community wanted a science museum, local scientists and educators came together to start plans for one. Their goal is to make science more accessible and “break barriers” to science education. They do not have a building yet, but they have raised over $1,000,000 to support their mission and innovate science education in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Recently, the museum announced its future location—the Urban Plains development in south Fargo! The museum, estimated to be a 63,500-square-foot building at the intersection of Seter Parkway and 31st Ave S, is projected to open to the public in early 2027.

Stay updated on the museum’s progress at fmsciencemuseum.org.