Simply Grand - Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau - Grand Forks, ND & East Grand Forks, MN

A few quick facts about the Greater Grand Forks Region

  • Grand Forks was founded at the confluence of the Red Lake River and the Red River by traders and trappers who used "les grand fourches" to congregate and set up a trading post. Legend has it the city was settled when the crew of steamboat captain Alexander Griggs retrieved a lost keg and came to shore with it on the banks of the modern downtown.
  • Today, Greater Grand Forks is an impressively cosmopolitan area, with a regional population of about 100,000 residents spanning two communities and two states.
  • Although it's difficult to tell now, in 1997 Grand Forks and East Grand Forks were devastated by the Flood of the Century and a subsequent fire that destroyed 11 downtown buildings. The peak flow of the Red River measured in Grand Forks during the flood was 137,000 cubic feet-more than 1 million gallons-per second.
  • The Grand Forks shopping scene includes shopping centers with big retail names and one-of-a-kind boutiques and stores. You'll find unique shops in our restored Downtown along with a Farmers Market every Saturday in the summer.
  • The Greater Grand Forks Region is home to four institutions of higher education, including North Dakota's only schools of law, medicine, and aerospace, as well as technology-driven campuses that offer students training for technical and skill-based careers. The University of North Dakota, the state's oldest and largest institution of higher learning, is in Grand Forks; Northland Community Technical College has a campus in East Grand Forks; and located outside the Grand Cities are the University of Minnesota-Crookston and Mayville State University.
  • The Red River Valley is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the world. Major crops include wheat, durum wheat, sugarbeets, potatoes, beans, sunflower seeds, corn, and oats. Plenty of these crops stay right here in the Valley, finding their way to local restaurants, bakeries, and grocery stores.
  • Greater Grand Forks is home to the Grand Forks Air Force Base and the North Dakota National Guard.
  • By the late 1930s, there were so many flashing neon lights on DeMers Avenue that "Ripley's Believe it or Not" credited East Grand Forks with the highest three-block concentration of neon lights in the world. We no longer make that claim, but the Boardwalk is still a pretty lively place with plenty of restaurants and shopping.
  • You may hear the term "coulee" on your visit to Grand Forks. Webster's defines it as a deep gulch or ravine, but we use it to refer to a picturesque, meandering stream that winds its way throughout the city.
  • What do you get when you let children help design a playground? Sherlock Forest Playground in East Grand Forks. It's not quite like anything you've seen before, and it gets rave reviews from kids.
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