Introduction

Railroad builders, hoping to attract German capital, named Bismarck for the chancellor of Germany, Otto von Bismarck. The Missouri River port and rail crossing became the capital, first of the territory and then of the state. To the visitor from a large metropolis where streets are walled by high-rises, the 19-story Art Deco Skyscraper Capitol Building might seem misnamed, but, looming above the plains of this wheatland where it can be seen from miles away, its white limestone and black granite mark a dramatic exclamation point on the horizon. From its rooftop observation gallery, view the wide-open spaces, the modern city below, and the historic frontier town of Mandan across the Missouri River.

Hotels in Bismarck