BELLE FOURCHE—Snapshots of days gone by are what you will find when you peruse the latest temporary exhibit now showing at the Tri-State Museum. The display, Our Town, focuses on downtown Belle Fourche.
A fun historical look at how State Street and the surrounding downtown area have changed over time is on display.
There are pictures of past businesses like the Belle Fourche Hotel from 1890 and the Community Building built by the Tri-State Round Up in 1927, to name a few. There are storyboards that discuss various past businesses with shared memories presented. The timeline focuses on the mid-20th century.
The exhibit is a pleasant trip down memory lane with a display that lists some of the past businesses such as Ben Franklin, Gambles, Coast to Coast and Montgomery Ward, just to name a few. Stop over and see if you remember any of the businesses. The ladies at the museum welcome stories and artifacts from the past.
The museum has had this exhibition in the past, but if you saw it then, stop by and see what has changed. “Some of the boards had to be changed because different things were updated,” explained Jada Udager, Collections Archivist. “I’m not 100% sure what they had for artifacts the first time, but I do everything so much differently.”
Udager gathered artifacts for the exhibit from a few places. “There are a couple of things that I borrowed from Love That Shoppe—Betty is absolutely amazing! I walk in the door and she says, pick out what you want—and then the rest is from our collections.”
It’s quite an extensive look into the past. “You’re going to see pencils and pens from businesses gone by, some of the coolest calendars, and a lot of business-type things—swag, basically—just information about the different buildings and businesses,” said Udager.
After you look through the exhibit, you can test your knowledge on the touchscreen quiz. There is a special section for kids to do activities and crafts.
Explore this temporary exhibit through May 22, 2026. The next temporary exhibit will be Vaudeville! and it will run from May 23 through August 28. Don’t forget to check out the mini exhibit, But First, Coffee. It runs through April 11 when a new mini exhibit focusing on rocks and minerals will open April 11.
Read the full issue of the Belle Fourche Beacon by clicking here.
