Bonanzaville is a pioneer village operated by the Cass Country Historical Society named after the large corporate farms of the mid to late 1800s. Railroads typically received 10 square miles for every mile built and large companies purchased huge tracts for as little as 10 to 15 cents an acre.
Combined with cheap immigrant labor, the newly developed farm machinery, good weather, and favorable grain prices the Bonanza Farms
covered tens of thousands of acres. The museum has excellent displays covering the rise and demise of these original corporate farms.
The pioneer viliage covers a large area with over forty buildings ranging from these original structures to large barns to protect the collections of equipment and machinery from the harsh Dakota winters. As typical there are just so many it is difficult to get clear photographs other than just stuff in a barn.
These ceramic panels were crafted from North Dakota clays by the U of ND Ceramics Dept for the North Dakota booth at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago. No one is sure how many panels were created but there is one more at the University and rumors of a couple more. They were purchased in 1935 by the Daughters of the Pioneers which later formed the Cass County Historical Society and represent one of the foundations of the Bonanzaville collection where they have a prominent place.
These wonderful stained glass windows are from the original Little Country Theater at North Dakota Agricultural College which later became North Dakota State University. They are meant to honor unnamed great men of letters and contributors to American Colleges, the Statue of Liberty, Shakespeare, Henrik Ibsen, and Goethe. Bonanzaville obtained them when the Theater moved to new facilities in 1967.