OUR STORY
A NORTH DAKOTAN ORIGINAL SINCE 1902
Just 40 miles west of Fargo, North Dakota on Interstate 94 lies a small quiet farming town with a population of just 200 people — a place where its history and community still go hand in hand. Founded in 1880, the town of Buffalo became one of Cass County’s earliest prairie communities. It grew along the Northern Pacific Railroad line, which carried early settlers, supplies, and the promise of greater farming opportunity across the Dakota plains.
As small prairie towns were investing boldly in their own futures, Buffalo built its first wooden schoolhouse, marking the beginning of organized education in the area. It served early families well for decades before a devastating fire destroyed it — a loss that inspired residents to rebuild stronger.
In 1902, the community raised a new school of brick and stone, called the Buffalo Public School topped with a stately bell tower that became the town’s landmark and beacon of hope.
In 1916, as the world was deep into its first great war, Buffalo once again looked toward the future. That year, the town commissioned the construction of a new Buffalo High School for $20,000 by the Meineke Building Company of Fargo. Designed in the Classical Revival style and built to weather time, the school replaced the original 1902 building, introducing science laboratories and a gymnasium–auditorium. The beloved bell tower, however, was preserved — a lasting symbol of continuity that still stands today as a proud link to the town’s earliest days.
BUFFALO HIGH SCHOOL
1915 - 2020
For nearly 60 years, Buffalo High School stood as the town’s center of learning and community life. Students studied math, science, literature, and history. They participated in organized sports and activities in basketball, football and music. The school hosted homecomings, proms, dances, and community events. Generation after generation, lessons were learned, countless memories were made while shaping and strengthening the foundation of the Buffalo community.
At its peak, the town reached a population of over 1,000 residents and was at the height of its activity, however the winds of change did not spare small towns like Buffalo. By the mid-1970s, the world was rapidly changing. Fargo was growing into a small city, and newer opportunities were emerging elsewhere, inspiring many families to move away. This shift drastically affected Buffalo and the surrounding rural communities, leading Cass County to consolidate the smaller school districts into one central school system.
Then in 1975, the same halls and classrooms that were once filled with students began to fall silent after Buffalo High School graduated its final class. The school officially closed its doors in 1978, leaving an uncertain future behind. Over several hundred alumni had passed through the school, many going on to college and professional careers elsewhere, while others remained in the community as the next generation of their family’s farming legacy.
For more than 25 years after its closure, the school stood empty and abandoned, a silent reminder of Buffalo’s past. As time took its toll on the building, the town found itself at a crossroads once again — faced with a difficult choice: tear the school down and let it fade into memory, or preserve it as a lasting symbol of the community it once served.
Then, in 2001, Buffalo’s own Mayor Ervin W. Marcks, Jr. — an 1960 alumni graduate, decorated Army officer, and Vietnam veteran — began the initiative to preserve the school by purchasing it for one dollar. In partnership with the Buffalo Historical Society. Guided by the original intention behind its construction — to build a strong, lasting place of learning for the community — the new vision was to return the building as a viable asset to the town. With the promise to restore the building to operating status and, it was with the support from the.
Restoration efforts soon began with new lighting, electrical systems, windows, and restored grounds, the building was prepared for application to the North Dakota Historical Society. It was officially registered on the national registry of historic landmarks, and its name was changed to The Historic 1916 Buffalo High School.
Today celebrating 110 years of its founding, the Historic Buffalo High School once again serves the community, hosting reunions, weddings, celebrations of life, barbecues, and special events. More than a restored building, it stands as a living landmark — a place where the past and present meet. Looking ahead, future plans include educational programs and class trips for students from Fargo and surrounding communities, inviting them to experience a piece of history built to last and to see firsthand how learning and community once shaped everyday life. Together, these efforts ensure that preservation sustains not only a structure, but a community’s story for generations to come.