Monthly Archives: November 2007

Out to pasture

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On a lonely little gravel road west of Mandan I found this rig parked in the corner of a field. As anyone visiting this site on a regular basis knows, I’m a sucker for a broken-down farmstead, a windmill, a well, or an old farm implement. I guess it’s part of North Dakota’s charm, although a wistful one at that. In my travels around the periphery of Bismarck-Mandan I’ve found many such sights, more than I’ve posted here. Gradually I’ll let ’em all out!

Sub-stantial damage

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I found this video while rooting around on the hard drives tonight and thought I would pass it along. I’m not sure who shot it, but kudos. Considering that the transformers in this substation still contained PCB’s, I’m not so sure I would want to be anywhere near them as they burned, at least not downwind. I’m sure they were replaced with more environmentally friendly ones.

You may remember a semi trailer parked in the Kirkwood Mall parking lot with temporary substation equipment on it. That’s long gone now, with a new (and presumably beefier) substation built in the location of the old one. I hope you enjoy the video.

Main Avenue color

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You don’t need to go far to find some beautiful fall foliage in Bismarck. A while back I found these leaves, and many other colorful varieties, right on Main Avenue! In fact, the blue behind them isn’t even the sky; it’s the back of the sign of the office building at the corner of Main and Mandan Street. I can’t believe I spaced the name of it…wait! It’s Tuscany Square.

One interesting thing is that the map graphic on the home page of the Bismarck Historical Society lists east-west roads as “Streets” and north-south ones as “Avenues.” For instance, there’s Washington Avenue and Sweet Street. The map is from 1883, so something must have changed in the 125 years since. Main Avenue, however, is listed on the map as “Main A”…so perhaps it has never been Main Street.