Prairie Village & Museum

10/29/2026

Getting close to wrapping up the 2027 main gallery exhibit! Just waiting on some items for the south wall and need to make up name/description tags for items and we should be ready for May 2027.

If you or a business would like to sponsor this exhibit , let me know. We would be glad to display your name.

10/26/2026

Progress is being made on the railroad exhibit! It's not too late to be a sponsor of this exhibit. Contact the museum to learn how! [email protected]

10/25/2026

📣 HELP WANTED! JOIN OUR MUSEUM TEAM!

🏛️ Looking for a little extra income and an enjoyable place to work?

Prairie Village Museum in Rugby is looking for a friendly, dependable, and responsible person to help staff our front counter during the 2027 museum season and Prairie Pumpkin Patch!

This is a great opportunity for someone who enjoys meeting people, has a flexible schedule, and would like to earn some extra money without a year-round commitment.

🌟 WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING:

- Greeting visitors and welcoming them to the museum
- Handling admissions and gift shop purchases
- Operating the cash register
- Counting and balancing cash drawers
- Helping with other front desk duties as needed

📅 WORK SCHEDULE:

☀️ Summer (June–Mid-August)
Flexible, part-time hours covering scheduled employee absences, vacations, and other staffing needs.

🍂 Mid-August Through Labor Day
Approximately 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday, until the end of our regular museum season on September 6.

🎃 Prairie Pumpkin Patch (September–Early October)
Additional hours during Prairie Pumpkin Patch, including weekends and select weekdays. Hours will vary depending on staffing needs.

💵 STARTING PAY: $13.00 PER HOUR

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR:

Someone who is dependable, comfortable handling money, enjoys visiting with people, and can work independently.

Previous customer service or cash-handling experience is helpful, but not required. We're happy to train the right person!

📩 INTERESTED?

Send Prairie Village Museum a Facebook message or email us at:

[email protected]

📍 Prairie Village Museum | Rugby, North Dakota

❤️ Come be part of preserving our local history while helping visitors enjoy everything Prairie Village Museum has to offer!

10/24/2026

Now that the museum season has wrapped up, we’ve had a little time to slow down, catch our breath, and recharge—especially after 21 straight days of pumpkin patch-related work! 🎃

Thank you to everyone who visited, volunteered, donated, and helped make this season possible. You gave us plenty of reasons to smile—and a good reason to put our feet up afterward!

With Halloween approaching, let’s bring back our “Did You Know?” posts with a little history from our region.

👻 DID YOU KNOW?

In 1904, Minot High School held a Halloween party in its band room, complete with a grand march and prizes for the best costumes. That’s 122 years ago! Apparently, the competition for a great Halloween costume has been going strong for quite a while.

Source: Susan Gessner’s A Minot High School History, page 6, citing the November 1904 Searchlight, page 10. Read it here:
https://doczz.net/doc/2139432/the-final-product---minot-public-library

🍬 And we’re getting in on the Halloween fun, too!

Prairie Village Museum will have TWO trunks at the Rugby Jaycees Trunk or Treat on Halloween, October 31, from 3–5 p.m. on Main Street in Rugby! One will represent the museum, and the other will celebrate Prairie Pumpkin Patch. Stop by both and say hello!

What do you remember about Halloween growing up around Rugby and the surrounding communities? Homemade costumes? School parties? A little harmless mischief? Share your memories below!

10/19/2026

10/19/2026

🚂 **A SNEAK PEEK AT OUR 2027 RAILROAD EXHIBIT!**

Something exciting is taking shape at Prairie Village Museum!

Work is underway on our newest exhibit, **“The Railroad That Built Rugby,”** which will explore how the Great Northern Railway helped shape our community, brought people and businesses to the prairie, and connected Rugby to the rest of the nation.

We're excited to give you a little behind-the-scenes look at the progress! There's still plenty of work ahead, but we're looking forward to bringing this important part of our local history to life for the 2027 season.

👏 **A special thank-you to Precision Auto Body & Glass Inc.** for becoming a Village Sponsor of the exhibit! Their generous support helps us preserve and share Rugby's history for generations to come.

**🚂 Want to be part of history?**

We're inviting other businesses, organizations, families, and individuals to help sponsor this exciting new exhibit. Sponsorship opportunities are available at several levels, and sponsors will receive recognition as part of the exhibit.

Interested in helping us bring Rugby's railroad history to life? Contact Prairie Village Museum to learn more!

**The tracks are being laid for an exciting 2027 season!**

10/15/2026

🚗 SNEAK PEEK AT WHAT'S COMING IN 2027! 🏆

Calling all classic car owners and car enthusiasts! Mark your calendars for the Dwight Jelsing Memorial Car Show & Rhubarb Festival on Sunday, June 13, 2027, at Prairie Village Museum in Rugby, ND!

Whether you're bringing your pride and joy to show off or just love admiring some incredible vehicles, this is an event you won't want to miss!

🏆 Car Show & Awards
🥧 Delicious Rhubarb Treats
🍔 Food Trucks
🎉 Family Fun & Activities

Car registration starts at 11:00 AM, with the show running from noon to 3:00 PM!

We're already looking forward to another great turnout, and we'd love to see some new faces and new rides!

📅 Save the date, spread the word, and tag a car enthusiast who needs to be there!

10/13/2026

🇺🇸 A BIG THANK YOU TO THE RUGBY AMERICAN LEGION! 🇺🇸

Prairie Village Museum would like to sincerely thank Clarence Larson American Legion Post #23 for their generous donation toward the purchase of archival storage containers for our military collection!

Preserving history involves much more than putting artifacts on display. Military uniforms, photographs, and other historical objects require special storage materials to protect them from deterioration and damage.

These archival-quality containers are expensive, and as a nonprofit museum, purchasing enough of them to properly care for our collection can be a challenge.

Thanks to this generous donation, we can purchase the quantity of quality storage materials needed to give these important pieces of history the care and protection they deserve.

Every uniform and artifact has a story, and many represent the service and sacrifice of local men and women.

Thank you to the members of the Rugby American Legion for helping us preserve those stories for future generations!

🇺🇸 Preserving history. Honoring service. Remembering sacrifice.

10/11/2026

🧨 DID YOU KNOW? A farmer near Dunseith tried solving a gardening problem with dynamite!

In 1922, a farmer decided to destroy eight barberry bushes after learning they helped spread wheat rust—a threat to his crops. His solution? Blow them up!

Unfortunately, the explosion scattered pieces of the roots across several acres. An agricultural college student later found nearly 100 young barberry plants sprouting instead. 🌱

Talk about a plan that backfired!

There’s always another surprising story to uncover here at Prairie Village Museum.

Source: Prairie Public’s Dakota Datebook

10/09/2026

HEY, PRAIRIE VILLAGE MUSEUM VOLUNTEERS! ❤️

Whether you spent two hours gardening, helped clean up after torrential rains, or volunteered all season long, we appreciate YOU!

Join us for our Volunteer Appreciation Social on Tuesday, October 13, from 5–7 PM at Prairie Village Museum.

Stop in anytime, enjoy some snacks, sweets, and refreshments, and let us thank you for all you do!

Please RSVP:
📧 [email protected]
📱 Call or text Jeff at 701-240-7560

Prairie Village Museum