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Capital of North Dakota · Burleigh County · capital since 1883 · 46.8°N 100.8°W
Bismarck, North Dakota
Bismarck became the capital of Dakota Territory in 1883 and of North Dakota at statehood in 1889. Its 19-story Art Deco capitol is one of only a few state capitol towers. Fargo, 195 miles east, is the larger city.
Where Bismarck is
Bismarck is the seat of Burleigh County, at 46.81°N, 100.78°W, on the east bank of the Missouri River near the center of North Dakota. Mandan lies across the river, and Lake Sakakawea, the reservoir behind Garrison Dam, begins about 60 miles upstream. The city is about 1,700 ft above sea level on the rolling Great Plains. Interstate 94 crosses the state through Bismarck. The city is on Central Time; the southwestern part of North Dakota beyond the Missouri, including Dickinson and the Badlands, is on Mountain Time.
How it became the capital
The Northern Pacific Railroad reached the Missouri here in 1872 and named the town after the German chancellor to attract German investment. Dakota Territory had been governed from Yankton, in the far southeast, since 1861. In 1883 the territorial capital was moved to Bismarck, a decision the southern half of the territory resented and that helped bring about its division. When North and South Dakota were admitted together on November 2, 1889, Bismarck remained the capital of the northern state.
Population
Bismarck had 73,529 residents in 2020, the second-largest city in North Dakota. Fargo, on the Red River at the opposite side of the state, had 125,990 and is growing faster. The Bismarck metropolitan area, which includes Mandan and four counties, has about 133,000 people out of the state's 779,094.
The capitol
The original capitol burned in December 1930. Its replacement, finished in 1934 during the Depression on a limited budget, was designed by Holabird and Root of Chicago with local architects Joseph Bell DeRemer and W. F. Kurke. It is a 19-story limestone office tower in the Art Deco style, 242 ft high, attached to a low legislative wing; it is often called the Skyscraper on the Prairie and is the tallest building in the state. The tower is visible for miles across the plains.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Fargo, ND | east | about 195 mi |
| Minot, ND | north | about 110 mi |
| Billings, MT | west | about 415 mi |
Pierre, the capital of South Dakota, is about 210 miles south on the same river.
Related maps
- North Dakota map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- North Dakota county map · blank North Dakota map · printable North Dakota map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- Midwest region · West North Central division · Central Time Zone.