The first capitol building in Bismarck burned down at the tail end of December 1930. Plans were soon underway to rebuild. However, not everyone thought it needed to built in Bismarck!
Jamestown headed a list of cities that believed the capitol should move out of Bismarck. Drake and New Rockford were also in the initial mix, but other communities soon joined in. Some folks in Devils Lake considered offering their locale, but a vote on the proposition failed. Others towns presented a case for their communities, with tongue firmly in cheek. Napoleon, for instance, stated that, if the capitol moved to their city, state officials could easily take time to hunt without being out of office long, and that “the capital city bearing the name Napoleon” would add “more prestige to this state, as it is conceded that the French emperor did things in a much bigger way than the German chancellor,” Bismarck.
Lake Williams, in Kidder County, offered their services in the same vein, stating that their water system was “automatic and never-failing,” as they had “three pumps in the city and at least one of the three is usually in working condition.” They added that the capitol could immediately be moved into their vacant bank building because it was fenced in and was “hog, rabbit, and coyote proof.”
In March 1932, voters would decide if they wanted the capital moved to Jamestown, and Association of Commerce in Bismarck listed resisting the idea as its first objective.
In the end, Bismarck would remain the capital. Perhaps the overall sentiment was echoed in this letter to the editor, published in Hebron, from a gentleman who noted the only good to come of moving the capital was to “give from 30-40 million school children in the United States a chance to laugh at their parents and other folks for not knowing where the capitol of North Dakota is located.”
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
The Bismarck Tribune, January 16, 1931, p1 and 3
The Bismarck Tribune, January 17, 1931, p3
The Bismarck Tribune, January 21, 1932, p1
The Bismarck Tribune, February 16, 1932, p1
