The photo shows the Emmons County Museum in North Dakota, a small historic stone building with a rustic design. The front entrance features an arched stone façade with the word “Museum” above white double doors. A light-gray wooden ramp and stairs lead up to the entrance, making it accessible. Surrounded by trees and open lawn, the museum gives off a quaint, welcoming small-town feel.

On Christmas Day in 1894, Emmons County residents Sherman Suverly and Eleanor Clark were married. Sherman, who operated the local riverboat, played an important role in Emmons County history—his job was to transport people across the Missouri River to Fort Rice, where they sold and traded goods. At the time, it cost fifteen cents to ferry a cow across the river and fifty cents for a horse and buggy.

Inside the Emmons County Museum, you can step back in time and see wedding portraits of Sherman and Eleanor. You may be surprised to see Eleanor wearing a black dress, but it was quite common for women to wear their best dress on their wedding day, regardless of its color. And if they could afford a new dress, they often chose a dark, practical color so they could wear it again and again.

The beautiful Emmons County Museum is housed in the former St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church. Built in 1902, St. Matthew’s held services for nearly 40 years under 10 different pastors. The church closed its doors in the late 1930s when it was no longer feasible to maintain the building for such a small congregation. The building stood empty for nearly four decades, until December 1973, when it was designated as the county museum.

As you explore its unique home, school, and military exhibits and observe the photographs, antique buggy, building replicas, and other artifacts, you’ll be able to envision a colorful, tactile past.

Before you leave, make sure to see the stolen Emmons County safe inside the museum. To hear what inspired the infamous heist to steal the safe, visit the nearby Emmons County Courthouse.