Coen Brothers, Prairie Art, and the Red River Gateway to the Northern Plains
Fargo sits on the Red River at the North Dakota-Minnesota state line, a prairie city that punches above its weight culturally thanks to the Plains Art Museum, the Fargo Theatre (1926), and a creative class drawn in part by North Dakota State University's 14,000 students. The 1996 Coen Brothers film put the city's name on the map globally, and the woodchipper memorial is a pilgrimage stop. Broadway and NP Avenue form a walkable downtown grid of galleries, craft beer bars, and independent restaurants.
Fargo was founded in 1871 as a station on the Northern Pacific Railway — named for Wells Fargo company director William Fargo — and grew rapidly as the gateway for settlers pouring into the Dakotas. The Great Flood of 1997, when the Red River crested at historic levels, threatened to destroy the city; Fargo's flood-wall infrastructure, expanded significantly since, is now a model for Great Plains flood mitigation. The region's agricultural wealth, built on wheat and flaxseed, has recently diversified into technology, healthcare, and aviation manufacturing.