The North Ward School was built in 1884 on the site that now houses Will-Moore Elementary. It was the second designated schoolhouse to be built in Bismarck, replacing the original two-room building located at the site now home to the Provident Building.
North Ward housed all grade levels until the completion of the city’s first designated high school building in 1912. The school was renamed William Moore School in 1918 after former Principal William Moore.
The school’s original name came from its location in the north ward of Bismarck, at a time when the city was divided into three wards.
Present-day Will-Moore Elementary, which was built on the same site, replaced both William Moore School and the similarly named Will School in 1951. The name “Will-Moore” is a combination of the two schools it replaced.
