1950
- $2 million in new project permits.
- Ground is broken for St. Mary’s Central High School (opens February 1952). Cost of the project is estimated at $850,000.
- A&W Rootbeer Drive-in opens (June)
- Bismarck Hospital completes first significant addition to its facility, at a cost of $306,000.
- Zion Lutheran Church begins construction of $110,000 building.
1951
- Building permits = $3.34 million, estimated population tops 20,000.
- Will School closes in December, in service since 1905. The building went onto serve as office space until demolished in 1954.
- Dakota Theater opens on the northeast corner of 4th and Thayer (October)
- Preparation commences on widening Main Avenue between 9th Street and 26th Street, adding 12 feet in width to a total of 68 feet. The project uses a combination of local, state, and federal financing. The plan calls for a traffic light to be installed at Airport Road, with conduits installed for future lights at 12th, 17th, and 22nd. 17th and 22nd Streets never do receive traffic signals.
1952
- Bismarck’s cash on hand tops $1 million for the first time.
- Will-Moore Elementary opens in January adjacent to the former North Ward/William Moore school.
- St. Mary’s Central High School opens (February)
- Widespread flooding seen when Missouri River crested at 27.9 feet. The Flood of 1952 was the worst flood ever in Bismarck, topping the previous record set in March 1881. (April)
- Fleck Motors opens new showroom at Broadway Avenue & 1st Street, replacing old structure destroyed by fire on same site (April)
- Fleck Motors completes new 2-story sales and garage at 3rd and Main, measuring 90×100 feet at a cost of $75,000.
- Philip J. Meyer dies of a heart attack. The businessman was a partner in Hoskins-Meyer and founder of KFYR and Meyer Broadcasting.
- Saxvik Elementary opens in November, named for H.O. Saxvik (closed in 2016).
1953
- Most building activity in a single year to that point, more than $7.1 million valuation.
- President Eisenhower makes a stop on June 11, en route to the Garrison Dam dedication.
- Garrison Dam is enclosed, ending rampant flooding south of the railroad tracks, in turn making the area available for permanent development for the first time.
- Bismarck was the sight one of the most significant recorded UFO sightings, witnessed by at least 45 people and Air Defense System personnel. (August 5-6)
- Mandan Oil Refinery is constructed by Standard Oil Company (now Tesoro)
- Arrowhead Shopping Plaza opens as Bismarck’s first shopping center (November)
- Rockstad and Leary open first Dan’s SuperValu at Arrowhead Plaza, supplementing Bismarck Supervalu (November)
- KFYR-TV officially signs on the air on December 19, 1953. KFYR-TV originated local content until its first national network broadcast – the World Series on September 28, 1955.
- Hansen Furniture founded at 703 Memorial Highway. It relocated in 1959 or 1960.
Other Major Projects Commenced:
- First National Bank Building ($350,000)
- Professional Building ($200,000)
- Eagles Lodge ($250,000) – dedicated in January 1955
1954
- Population tops 23,400.
- Overall building permits down, but record residential construction activity (416 new residential units).
- Garrison Dam completed, forming Lake Sakakawea (Dam closure occurred in April 1953)
- Big Boy opens, Bismarck’s first drive-through (July)
- Provident Building opens in October. The 6-story tower cost $1.2 million to construct. It is formally dedicated on February 15, 1955.
- Northridge and Pioneer Elementary schools open.
- Former Will School is demolished.
Other Major Projects Commenced:
- Eddy Bakeries ($160,000)
- Cowan Drug third floor addition ($100,000)
1955
- Bismarck begins infusing public water with fluoride (January).
- State legislatures approves $200,00 to construct new Governor’s Mansion.
- Plans for construction of Cathedral Grade School announced (March). School opens in fall 1956 with 16 rooms.
- Anderson Ace Hardware plans new store (May)
- Bismarck plans for air raid warning system (May)
- Children through the first four grades receive Salk polio vaccine inoculations (May).
- Super Valu confirm plans to build distribution warehouse in Casey Industrial Park (September).
- KBMB-TV begins broadcasting on November 19. The station later becomes KXMB.
- Fargo Gain Terminal collapses on May 13, total loss estimated at more than $1.5 million.
- Bismarck Junior College moves to its own facility at 900 Boulevard Avenue, where it remains until 1961.
- Mary College begins offering 2-year programs
- Williston-founded Conlin’s Furniture arrives in Bismarck upon purchasing Reff Furniture
- Marcus Fleck establishes the MF Motel at 4524 Memorial Highway in Mandan. It is renamed the Modern Frontier in 1961. It later becomes the Rivertree Inn prior to closing. It was demolished in or around 2013 to make room for the Memorial Square Shopping Center.
- City Motel opens at 2316 E Broadway. It has been known as Mark V Studio Apartments since 1979.
- Carter Service Station opens at 6th and Rosser. Today, this continues to operate under the Arco banner.
- Cowan Building adds three stories to its initial two for an estimated cost of $250,000.
- Camp Hancock designated a state historic site.
1956
- Bismarck’s telephone system converted to the traditional dial system (February)
- Ressler’s Cafe relocates from 210 N 6th Street to 2219 E Main Avenue.
- Save-Way Superette opens at 223 N 15. It closes in 1982 only to re-open as Stoner’s in 1990. It is sold in 1998 before permanently closing soon after.
- JCPenney relocates to the northwest corner of 5th and Broadway Avenue from 115 N 4th (October). The $565,000 two-story brick building was built by Webb Realty specifically for Penney’s, who signed a 20-year lease. The second floor warehouse is converted into sales space in 1960, when the store also adds Bismarck’s first escalator. A second location at Main & 6th later opens in 1964, before Penney’s relocated to Kirkwood Mall in 1980.
- Bismarck Bowling Center relocates to 305 N 23rd Street and closes in 1983.
- Riverside Elementary opens (closed in 2013)
- Hi-Way Motel opens at 6319 E Main Ave, just east of Bismarck city limits. The motel still operated as a motel until at least 2001. Today, it is Hi-Way Studio Apartments. The motel is commonly mistaken as the one depicted in the film Fargo, which was actually filmed at a hotel in Forest Lake, Minnesota.
- Northern National Life Insurance founded. The company builds today’s iconic Manhattan Building in 1965, named for the firm it merged with in 1978.
1957
- Osco Drug opens first Bismarck store – downtown on 4th Street (June 14). It becomes an original tenant for both Kirkwood Plaza – in 1971 – and Gateway Mall – in 1979. National pharmacy chain CVS purchased Osco Drug in 2006. Both locations have since been replaced with brand-new freestanding stores.
1958
- New building permit record surpasses 1953. Nearly $7.3 million total valuation, $5.3 million of which residential.
- State oil production exceeds 1,000 active wells for the first time.
- $1.8 million project commences to relocate U.S. Highway 10 in western Bismarck.
- Hughes Junior High construction commences June 20th at an estimated cost of $740,200, opening 1959.
- The Drumstick Cafe is first established. The long-time restaurant originally opened as a fast food format before evolving into a traditional family restaurant in 1961. It closed in 2002.
- Highland Acres Elementary opens.
- First Baptist Church holds services in new building.
- The first $1 million phase in a multi-phase construction project commences with leveling land in March at the Convent of the Annunciation, popularly known as today’s University of Mary campus. First to be completed was a 3-story 250×46 foot mixed-use dormitory schoolhouse for residential high school students, opening as the Annunciation Priory High School in fall 1959. The school served freshman and sophomore female students, who would automatically transfer to Saint Mary’s Central High School their junior year. The project also calls for a college building and multi-purpose mother house for the Benedictine Sisters, moving from their current home at 304 W Avenue A.
- The project took life in 1947 when the Sisters of St. Benedict, Saint Joseph, Minnesota, established a separate priory in Bismarck. As the motherhouse at 304 W Avenue A became overcrowded, land was acquired seven miles southwest of city limits along Apple Creek. The first permanent building belonging to the prior was completed soon after.
- New York’s world-famous Marcel Breuer was architect, modeling the buildings after similar work he did at St. John’s College in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Other Major Projects Commenced:
- McCabe Methodist Church ($346,373)
- Universal Motor Company ($175,000)
- International Harvester Company storefront ($100,000)
- Roosevelt Elementary addition (69,584)
1959
- Mary College begins offering 4-year programs as the first building of a $1 million project opens on its campus.
- Hansen Furniture commenced construction for a 100×60-foot, $40,000 new store on the northeast corner of Main Avenue and Fraine Barracks Road.
