Wells County Historical Society

08/19/2026

The Wells County Historical Society Picnic at the Hurd Round House celebrated the 250th year of the USA. Many members and friends gathered to enjoy the potluck supper held on Monday, August 17, 2026. - Aileen Clough

Thank you to everyone who attended this event and helped us in keeping the Hurd House picnic tradition alive and strong.

Here is David Clough, The WCHS President, setting the mood for the 250th anniversary celebration 🤩

More photos in the comments.

08/15/2026

Our August meeting will be a picnic at the Hurd Round House!
We meet at 5 pm on Monday, Aug.17.
WCHS provides sandwiches. Please, bring a dish or a dessert to share.
Come visit with fellow history enthusiasts and enjoy great views and good food!

07/15/2026

Calling all local history fans 📯📯📯

Here is your chance to visit THREE museums this coming weekend.

Saturday, July 18th, Manfred Historical Site (Manfred History and Preservation Inc.) and Wells County Museum (Wells County Historical Society) will be open for visitors from 10am to 4pm.

Sunday, July 19th, Eddy County Museum in New Rockford (Eddy County Museum) will be open from 1pm to 4pm.

There will be short programs and snacks at each site.

We are looking forward to seeing you!

07/14/2026

07/11/2026

Next WCHS meeting will be held on Monday, July 20th, at 7pm at the usual place - Emrick Schoolhouse (WC Fairgrounds, Fessenden).

Anne Ehni will present "Small but Mighty: How a Young Widow's Pioneer Spirit Helped Form Wells County", a program based on Anne's great(×2)grandmother's journals.

Come listen to the remarkable story! It's not often that we come across a first-person account of struggles and joys of a young lady in budding Wells County.

Snacks and warm company provided. See you there!

07/11/2026

KHND July 13th, 10.30am
Wanda Melchert and Connie Czech will talk about Museum Crawl. Tune in!

07/07/2026

Thanks to Anonymous Donor, Harvey Herald and Herald Press newspapers, both of Harvey, ND, are available for browsing and searching at ND State Historical Society portal!
For local news and happenings from 1897 to 1984 choose Harvey Herald.
For events and announcements from 1985 to 2023 choose Herald Press.
https://ndarchives.historyarchives.online/

Happy researching! 🤓

UPD: Wells County Free Press (Fessenden, 1908-1984) is also available at the same link.

These newspapers have been made available to the community for the purpose of research, study and to satisfy curiosity. Due to the nature of the colloquialisms, culture, attitude, region, and/or political climate of the various time periods represented, some content me be viewed by some as “inappr...

06/22/2026

During the WC Fair, Wells County Historical Society presented several history talks.

Here is Connie Czech during her Hurd Round House presentation. The replica of Hurd Round House was built in the 1970s by Perry Anderson's grandfather, whose name was also Perry Anderson.

The actual Hurd Round House is open to public during summer. Feel free to stop by for a scenic break on your way to Bismarck! It's a great place for retro photo sessions, too.

06/21/2026

He used to stand on top of the fairgrounds gate, alone and battered by North Dakota winds and storms.

Now he greets Fair Museum visitors and is looking his best - thanks to talented teen artist Hailey Wiesz.

Come visit with The Concrete Jockey at the newly opened Fair Museum, between the Festival Hall and the Grandstand! We will be open 1 - 4 p.m. Sunday, June 21st.

P.S. We will have to come up with a name for him 🧐

06/21/2026

On June 19 Wells County Fair's Free Stage offered a glimpse into Norwegian fiddling tradition: we had Svea Pearson of Watford City, ND, and her faithful fiddle Tekla playing both traditional tunes, like bridal marches from different regions of Norway, and contemporary pieces.

Svea's fiddle was named by the musician's grandfather after his grandmother - talk about heritage and family roots!

If you missed the performance, head over to Svea's website The Fiddler's Nest https://thefiddlersnest.carrd.co/ There you can listen to clips of Hardanger fiddle music and find a list of upcoming stage appearances.