VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City applied to the National Park Service (NPS) to become North Dakota’s World War II Heritage City. The City received national designated by the NPS in 2025. The Barnes County Historical Society took the lead on the designation. Valley City is the smallest community to get the NPS designation and featured the Home front Effort. Since being designated the group has applied and received many grants to promote the local efforts that were important to winning the war. There are many interesting stories that include:
Manhatton Project- a local doctor and chemist who was secretly placed on a team to develop the atomic bomb
Ghost Army- one of our locals was a logistic officer that helped move the ghost army around fooling the Germans into thinking a tank brigade was in place (using inflatable tanks and actors to sell the story)
Company G- our local National Guard unit, Company G, was part of the 164th Battalion that was the first to fight the Japanese at Guadalcanal and the only U.S. Army Guard unit to receive accommodation by the Marine Corps.
Farmerettes- the title given to Northwestern Bell women workers who were trained by our local tractor supply store personnel to run farm machinery helping families whose farmers were sent to war
Local Nuns were Prisoners of War- local Catholic Sisters that were school teachers in Valley City happened to be in France at the home base and were taken prisoner by the Germans.
Norwegian Connection- a Valley City State Normal School professor sculpted a bust of President Lincoln that was gifted to Norway. The statue was used as a gathering place by Norway resistance
These are snapshots of some of the stories that have been put together in a WWII Heritage Trail and museum exhibits. There are interpretive panels throughout Valley City, a Talking Trail and a new display at the Barnes County Museum. Wes Anderson (museum curator) and Sandy Hanson (museum board member and graphic artist) are
the local researchers that made this project possible. Lewis Legge (museum board member) installed the panels and Talking Trail signs.
The Barnes County Museum is hosting a “Grand Opening” on Thursday, July 9 at 2:30 pm at the museum located at 315 Central Avenue N. Our hope is that it will inspire other communities to look at their WWII history as we are sure there are many local heroes out there!
Mary Lee Nielson, Project Coordinator Valley City- WWII Heritage City. Cell: 701-840-1580.
The full interview about the upcoming event with Mary Lee Nielson and Stacy Ingstad is below.