Discover Rugby: Museums, History, and Summer Events

Rugby is located on U.S. Highway 2 in north-central North Dakota. If you’re looking for hotels in Rugby, the town’s history, museums, and seasonal events offer practical starting points for choosing when to visit.

Museums and Summer Events

Prairie Village and Museum comprises 24 historic buildings and seven exhibition halls arranged around a village square. The Prairie Village Museum is also home to the independent Heart of America Germans from Russia Heritage Center. There, visitors can explore artifacts, photographs, documents, and exhibits that tell the story of the history and experiences of German-Russian immigrant families in North Dakota. The Center preserves the history, culture, and family stories of the people who settled in Pierce County and the surrounding region.

Every year, on the second Sunday in June, the Prairie Village Museum hosts the Dwight Jelsing Memorial Car Show. Another annual event is the Rhubarb Festival, considered a summer tradition. For a small fee, visitors can sample a selection of homemade rhubarb desserts, including cakes, pies, crisps, bars, and muffins. Check the current event date before your trip.

Buildings and Collections

The Pierce County Courthouse in Rugby was built in 1908. Its interior features marble corridors and a domed rotunda with hand-painted scenes. The Rugby Amtrak Depot also has a long history: it was built in 1907. Each of these dates gives the two buildings its own place in the town’s history.

The Victorian Dress Museum is located in the former Saint Paul's Episcopal Church. The church was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 3, 1992. The museum displays 23 Victorian-style replica dresses with accessories. This gives the collection a different focus from the courthouse architecture: here, the emphasis is on clothing and its design.

Northern Lights, Bells, and Seasonal Recreation

Rugby’s Northern Lights Tower is an illuminated, 88.5-foot-tall steel structure dedicated to the Aurora Borealis. The adjacent Interpretive Center displays photographs by Jay Brausch. At an interactive kiosk, visitors can view images of the Northern Lights; the Center also explains how and why the aurora appears in the sky. The landmark and the exhibition thus offer different perspectives on the same subject: the tower’s dedication and the Center’s explanations.

The Niewoehner Bell Tower contains 15 bells. The two largest each weigh about 1,300 pounds; all the bells together weigh around four tons. The individual weights and approximate total describe the installation at two different scales. For a different kind of recreation, Rugby has an indoor swimming pool at 1100 3rd Ave SE. It is open from June through August and offers swimming lessons, aquasizing, and recreational swimming. Since seasonal operating details can change, check the current opening hours before visiting.

For a broader travel overview: Pierce County.