March 28, 2019

North Dakota Property Listed in National Register of Historic Places

BISMARCK, N.D. – The De Mores Memorial Park in Medora is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places is the federal government’s list of properties it considers worthy of preservation and recognition. North Dakota nominations are coordinated by the State Historical Society of North Dakota.

De Mores Memorial Park has been in its current location since it was founded in cooperation between Louis and Paul de Vallombrosa (sons of the Marquis de Mores Antoine de Vallombrosa) and the town of Medora. The de Vallombrosa brothers donated the land for the park to the town in 1924 and commissioned a statue from Pierre Marie Poisson that was cast by the F. Barbedienne Foundry. The statue of the Marquis de Mores was erected in June of 1926. Ten years later, the park became the property of the State Historical Society of North Dakota. Making use of the federal relief programs available in the 1930s, Weldon Gratton of the National Park Service created a new design for the park. The Park was further developed during the next decade through various Works Progress Administration (WPA) and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) projects from 1937 until 1940.

Contrary to some misconceptions about the National Register program, listing in it does not prevent owners from altering their property, restrict the use or sale of the property, or require establishing times that the property must be open to the public. Entry into the National Register of Historic Places does give a property prestige, provides protection from adverse effects in federally assisted projects, and provides eligibility for certain preservation financial incentives.

For more information about the National Register program in North Dakota, contact Acting Architectural Historian Susan Quinnell, State Historical Society of North Dakota, at 701.328.3576, or find information online at history.nd.gov.

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CONTACT
Susan Quinnell, 701.328.3576 

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