5Titles
Explore publications and collections from the past.
Community History Archive Partner
Barnes County Historical Society Museum
Valley City, North Dakota
Explore this community history collection to discover the people, places, organizations, and events of Valley City.
1879 to 1946Dates represented
See individual titles for available dates.
25,098Archive pages
Historical pages reported for this collection.
Explore local history
Discover the people, places, and stories of Valley City, North Dakota.
Discover another side of Valley City, North Dakota through newspapers preserved in the Barnes County Historical Society Museum's digital archive. Its five titles include material from 1879 to 1946.
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Selected titles
In the collection shared by Barnes County Historical Society Museum, you will find “Northern Pacific Times” and “Valley City Weekly Times”.
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Free and open access
No subscription or payment required.
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A closer look
A familiar name or event takes on another dimension in the newspaper coverage of its time, alongside the stories that mattered to the readers of that issue.
The reporting of earlier years offers a way to explore how events were understood as they happened and how local experiences became part of the historical record. A family story, a classroom project or curiosity about a familiar place can lead to a closer look at the community and the lives of earlier generations. Explore the archive online for free, without a subscription.
Explore the collection
Titles in this collection
Browse five titles and 25,098 digitized pages, with material from 1879 to 1946. Through a partnership with Advantage Archives, Barnes County Historical Society Museum shares these sources from the past. Some years or items may be missing between the dates shown.
If you are tracing a family connection or exploring local history, the titles below offer a place to begin and a thread to follow.
Northern Pacific Times
352 pages from 1879 to 1882
The Valley City Times
582 pages from 1881 to 1882
Valley City Daily Times
5,092 pages from 1882 to 1885
Valley City Times Record
18,666 pages from 1941 to 1946
Valley City Weekly Times
406 pages from 1882 to 1884
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About the Museum
About the Barnes County Historical Society Museum
The Barnes County Historical Society Museum offers free and open access to its digitized and physical collections—linking artifacts, photographs, newspapers, and oral histories to support research, genealogy, and community engagement. In partnership with local institutions and archival technologies, the Museum works to ensure that the “first rough draft of history” is preserved and accessible for all.
About the Archive
Collections & Exhibits
- Historic Photographs & Artifact Collections — documenting daily life, pioneer families, local institutions, and cultural heritage
- Newspaper Clippings & Local Press Archives — curated clipping files and microfilm holdings from regional and county newspapers
- Oral Histories & Community Interviews — recordings, transcripts, and narrative accounts gathered from longtime residents
- Traveling & Thematic Exhibits — rotating displays featuring topics like dinosaurs (e.g. “Gundy the Triceratops”), local industry, community milestones, and natural history
These materials act as a portal to Barnes County’s past—capturing people, places, and events, while preserving cultural assets and allowing researchers to trace patterns of settlement, change, and memory.
About the Museum
About the Barnes County Historical Society Museum
Located at **315 Central Avenue North, Valley City, North Dakota 58072**, the Barnes County Historical Society Museum is the oldest county museum in North Dakota. Its large 18,000-square-foot facility features permanent and rotating exhibits, event space, genealogical archives, and a gift shop. Contact: (701) 845-0966. Hours: Monday–Saturday 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Sundays by appointment.
Institution History
The History of the Society & Museum
Founded in 1930, the Barnes County Historical Society began in the Barnes County Courthouse and later relocated to its current address in 1997. The museum has been a hub for preserving regional heritage—collecting artifacts, manuscripts, photographs, and collaborating with local libraries and societies to digitize archival materials. Signature exhibits include “Gundy the Triceratops,” a nearly complete dinosaur skeleton discovered by a local paleontologist, plus displays on local transportation, classical automobiles, and county life artifacts.
About the Community
About Valley City & Barnes County, North Dakota
Valley City is the county seat of Barnes County and a regional center of education and heritage. The county was formed in 1872, and over decades its landscape, industry, and communities evolved with farming, railroads, and settlement. The museum captures these transformations through its collections, allowing visitors to trace the connections between local identity and broader historical trends.
Local History
Did You Know?
- The museum’s “Gundy the Triceratops” exhibit features a Cretaceous-period skeleton discovered by Valley City’s Mike Triebold in 1992—over 80 % complete and one of the most complete in North America.
- Besides paleontology, the museum houses a 1901 Oldsmobile (noted as one of North Dakota’s oldest registered cars), a working HO scale model of the local Hi-Line Bridge, and displays honoring local figures including Peggy Lee and Ole “the Hermit” Olson.
- The Barnes County Historical Society operates a lecture series (in its 23rd+ season) and provides genealogical lookup support for visitors and remote researchers.
Visit the Digital Archives to explore photographs, local histories, newspaper files, and archived community stories: Explore the Barnes County Historical Society Museum Digital Archives .
More ways to explore and share local history
Research Guidance
Look for the story behind a result
The history of Valley City includes individual lives as well as events remembered by the wider community. In the digital archive shared by the Barnes County Historical Society Museum, begin with a name, place or date connected with the story you want to explore. When using historical newspapers, try alternate spellings and nearby dates, then read the surrounding page to place a local story in its time. Compare later reporting or another available title to explore different perspectives rather than treating one account as the whole story. Search a person, place, or event with a second term, then compare the date and context of each result. A repeated name needs more evidence before it identifies the same person or connects two parts of a story.
After recording the issue and page, search a second term tied to the result and compare the surrounding dates and accounts. Keep matching names provisional until the place and context fit. This can turn one result into a better question without turning a repeated name into a confirmed story.
Capture the title, date, and page or item location for a detail you may want to revisit. Label your interpretation as your reading, not the source's own words. Keep enough context with the note that another reader can retrace it.
Community Partnership
Keeping local history a community resource
This community archive is made possible by the collaboration of the Barnes County Historical Society Museum, its community, and Advantage Archives. Together, these partnerships preserve local sources and give people a way to explore, learn from, and share the history around them.
Advantage Archives covers ongoing archive hosting, storage, development, and maintenance. The institution and its community do not pay a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or other recurring archive-service charge. Local history remains a community resource, not a subscription to maintain.
Would you like to see more of your community's history preserved and accessible? Start a conversation with your library, newspaper publisher, historical or genealogical society, museum, or school about the materials they would like to share and a possible partnership with Advantage Archives.
Learn about partnerships
Stories, research tips, and archive news
Read All About It connects archive research with the people and institutions preserving local history. Explore partner and community stories, project updates, research ideas, and perspectives on digitization, education, and working with primary sources. Use the articles as a starting point for your next question or a new way to share a discovery.
May 7, 2025
Why Microfilm is still important in 2023
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Don’t Search For An Obituary By Only Searching For An “Obituary”
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April 9, 2025
Unveiling the Hidden Mysteries: Exploring Cold Cases and Unconventional Clues
Even the most esteemed police forces in the county encounter perplexing cold case files. These unsolved mysteries often leave investigators and genealogists…
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April 1, 2025
This Week in History: March 31st through April 6th
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March 24, 2025
This Week in History: March 24th through March 30th
Discover History in The Community History Archives. It has officially been a year since I started writing This Week in History,…
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March 18, 2025
It’s Your Community’s History, So Why Rent Something You Own?
We believe that history belongs to the communities where it was made - not locked behind paywalls or inaccessible due to budget restrictions. Subscription-based services and large content aggregators are generally more concerned with "content" and less concerned with the history that content contains. Their models typically involve a reoccurring charge for a plan that renews annually or licensing agreements with the library based on population served or circulation numbers. You are essentially Renting Access To YOUR History.
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