Tour | German Russian Country Driving Tour

German Russian Country Driving Tour

Braddock, North Dakota 58524, United States

Created By: North Dakota State University

Tour Information

The German-Russian Country Driving Tour is a free roam tour of the most culturally significant German-Russian sites in Emmons, Logan, and McIntosh counties.

Sites include:

St. Mary's Catholic Church - Hague

Lawrence Welk Birthplace - Strasburg

Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church - Strasburg

Emmons County Museum - Linton

Braddock Threshing Grounds & Letterpress Museum - Braddock

Tour Map

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What You'll See on the Tour

Braddock Threshing Grounds & Letterpress Museum

The Braddock Threshing Grounds is home to the Annual South Central Threshing Association, Inc. Threshing Bee and Antique Equipment Show. The show is held during the first weekend after Labor Day. Visitors to the show can witness first-hand ... Read more

Elise Perras Museum

Elise Perras was born in Canada in 1853 to a Canadian mother and a French father. She came to North Dakota in 1880 and had her first child, Nell, in 1883. Another child, Olga, was born in 1890. The 1910 Federal Census lists her as wido... Read more

St Anthony Catholic Church

St. Anthony Parish was founded in 1909, yet no permanent place of worship was established until 1911. Under the direction of Father Max Speckmeier, the first church of St. Anthony was constructed in Linton at the same site of the current ch... Read more

Emmons County Museum

In 1973 the Emmons County Historical Society was established to gather, preserve, and exhibit items related to the county history. The Emmons County Museum in Linton houses the collection. The museum is comprised of 4 buildings, with th... Read more

Seeman Park

Seeman Park in Linton was created in June 1919. The land was donated to the City by S.L. Seeman for whom the park is named. The City first had intentions of purchasing the land from Mr. Seeman, but he made a proposition to donate the land u... Read more

Emmons County Courthouse

The Emmons County seat was not always located in Linton, North Dakota. Starting in 1883, Williamsport, in the northern part of the county, held that distinction. Its designation as the seat was contested nearly from the beginning, with citi... Read more

Ludwig & Christina Welk Homestead

The Ludwig and Christina Welk Homestead, located in rural Strasburg, is more than just an ode to the career of Polka bandleader, Lawrence Welk, who grew up on the farm. The Homestead, run by the State Historical Society of North Dakota, int... Read more

Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church

In 1906, the catholic church of Saints Peter and Paul of Tiraspol, North Dakota moved into the newer community of Strasburg, two and half miles down the road. Work on the new church began in March of 1910, when the Diocese of Bismarck bless... Read more

Ghost Towns of Westfield & Hull

The now ghost towns of Hull and Westfield have always been small. These villages that lie near the South Dakota boarder, are connected by a four-mile gravel road that mostly serves the farming communities that live near. Because the communi... Read more

Saint Marys Cemetery

Old St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery was founded in 1884 and is located on the grounds of the original wood St. Mary’s Catholic Church site. As is done in traditional Catholic cemeteries, the first graves at St. Mary’s were positioned e... Read more

St. Mary's Catholic Church

St. Mary’s Catholic Church is one of the most impressive churches in German-Russian country and is the jewel of the Hague community. It is one of the oldest German-Russian Catholic parishes in North Dakota. From 1890, a small wooden churc... Read more

Mc Intosh County Bank

The first McIntosh County Bank was established in 1911 in Danzig, North Dakota as Farmers State Bank. During the Great Depression deposits into the bank fell. In the bank's early years, they could take in $125,000 in deposits, but durin... Read more

Zeeland Hall

Zeeland Hall is an example of the New Deal Construction Relief program, the Works Progress Administration (WPA) effort of the 1930's. It was built in 1936 for $19,000 and is done in a Colonial Revival style. One of the outstanding feat... Read more

Zeeland Park

The Zeeland Park Arch is one of the last remaining artifacts of the Zeeland Park. Zeeland Park was created in the 1930s by local businessmen who raised money by charging admission to town basketball games. Once sufficient funds had been rai... Read more

St. Andrew's Church

St. Andrews Evangelical German Lutheran Church was built in 1893 and is the onlly remaining church of the original five church parish. The church site includes the original 1893 building, the new church built in 1906, the parsonage built i... Read more

Hoskins Old Settlers Monument

The Hoskins Old Settlers Monument was constructed in 1938 on the site of the Hoskins Settlement. Early pioneer Herbert M. Larimer planned, built, and contributed funds to the monument. All Hoskins pioneers or their decedents were asked to c... Read more

Ashley Creamery

The historic Ashley Creamery was built in 1919 by a farmers co-op milling company as a flour mill, but was never used for that. It became a creamery in 1939. Today, it serves the community as a unique hotel and event space and provides an... Read more

Prairie Fathers & Mothers Monument

The Pioneer Fathers & Mothers Memorial was erected in the southwest corner of the McIntosh County courthouse square in 1938. The Ashley Woman's Club arranged the construction on the monument. It was dedicated during Ashley's Golden Jubi... Read more

McIntosh County Courthouse

McIntosh County was formed in 1883 and is named after a member of the North Dakota Territory legislature, Edward H. McIntosh. Hoskins was the original county seat, but the entire town of Hoskins, except for the school, was moved to the ne... Read more

McIntosh County Heritage Center

The McIntosh County Heritage contains artifacts relevant to German Russian immigration and life in McIntosh County. The Heritage center also includes a church, school house, antique machinery and a land patent office. Sources: I. "McI... Read more

Beth Itzchock Cemetery

The Ashley Jewish Cemetery, aslo known as the Beth Itzchock Cemetery, is the last physical presence of the small McIntosh County Jewish farming community, once the largest Jewish settlement in North Dakota. There were around 400 Jewish se... Read more

Berlin Baptist Church

Established in 1888, Berlin Baptist Church of Fredonia began with under 10 families. In the 1920's membership swelled to 150 families, but by the 1970's that number had declined to 70 families. Sources: I. Konrad, Allen. Fredonia, No... Read more

Lehr Tabernacle

The Lehr Tabernacle was built by members of the German Evangelical Church community in Lehr. The idea of holding German Evangelical camp meetings in the area started sometime after 1915. The first camp meeting was held in Lehr in 1921. Afte... Read more

Nazareth Congregational Church

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Martin Luther Lutheran Church

German Lutheran settlers in the Fredonia area felt they needed a church. In 1901 they built a church three miles north of Fredonia to serve their needs. This church eventually became to small for the growing community and so a new, larger... Read more

Wishek Steek & Manufacturing

Wishek Steel & Manufacturing is home to an innovative model of disc harrow, called the Wishek Disc. The Wishek disc was invented by Harley Bradner and collaborator, Jim Bettenhausen in 1977. The Wishek Disc, according to its patent pape... Read more

Wishek Civic Center

The Works Progress Administration benefitted the community of Wishek in the form of a city park, a swimming pool, and a civic center. The civic center began construction in 1938 and was completed in 1942. It was constructed for $140,000... Read more

Ghost Town of Burnstad

The ghost town of Burnstad has no active businesses and only a few remaining residents. It was established in 1905 with the arrival the Soo Line Railroad. The village was named for local cattleman C.P. Burnstad. Burnstad grew for thirty y... Read more

Prairie Bells Grotto

Prairie Bells Grotto serves as a shrine to the Holy Family. The site inclueds the bells of St. Andrew, St. Anthony, and Holy trinity churches, which no longer exist. Their bells, however, still peel across the prairies and are situated ... Read more

Logan County Museum

The Logan County Historical Society site features historic buildings that include a school house, the first house in Logan County, a church, a blacksmith and harness shop, and print shop. The site also includes a machine shed with dioramas ... Read more

Logan County Courthouse

Logan County was formed in 1884 when the Dakota territorial legislature created it and McIntosh County. It was named after territory legislator John A. Logan, a Civil War general and senator. Napoleon has been its county seat since 1884... Read more

Dinosaurs on the Prairie

A different kind of dinosaur is lined up in a prairie outside of Napoleon, North Dakota. A collection of antique threshing machines belonging to the late John. G. "Custer" Grenz stand as a testament to the lifeblood of the prairies. Thr... Read more