A Natural Horse Arena

What is now a ghost town, Arena, North Dakota, lies in Burleigh County, just about 35 miles northeast of Bismarck. The town was established in 1906 by the Patterson Land Company of Minnesota, which had purchased over one million acres of railroad land between Bismarck and Jamestown in 1905. Lots of planned little towns sprung up along the railroads, but not all of them survived. On January 23, 1906, a rural post office was set up at what became Arena, with Harry A Mutchler serving as the first postmaster. Mutchler named the town Arena due to its location, surrounded by hills and nestled in a natural basin. It reminded him of a natural horse arena, and so he felt that the name fit perfectly. Shortly after the post office was established, Mutchler began working as a promoter for the Patterson Land Company.

In 1910, the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed the Pingree-Wilton line. That line passed right through the settlement of Arena. The town, when it was at its peak, featured a one-room schoolhouse, a train depot, Saint John’s Lutheran Church, twin grain elevators, two general stores, a hardware store, five creameries, a butcher shop, a pool hall, a bank, a sale barn, a livery, a telephone pay station, and several homes. Back then, Arena also had its own baseball team. They often competed against teams from nearby communities like Wing, North Dakota. The town was thriving, and life was good there.

In its early days, nearly half of the town’s population were German immigrants or their descendants, alongside a few Jewish merchants, while the rest were considered “American.” The community was primarily agricultural, focusing on corn and livestock as the main sources of income, though crops like hay, grain, wheat, oats, and flax were also grown. Many Arena residents became known for their innovative farming techniques and use of advanced agricultural equipment. Also, a group of Mennonites from Marion, South Dakota, settled about four miles south of Arena, in 1904. By 1920, Arena’s population peaked at 150 people. In 1925, the wooden school building in Arena was sold and relocated to the Mennonite community to serve as a church. It may have been around this time that the large, two-story brick school building was constructed on the hill in Arena.

By 1930, like much of the nation, the tiny town of Arena was struggling through the Great Depression. The Dust Bowl of that decade made things even worse, forcing farmers to leave and businesses to shut down. By 1935, the population had dwindled to just 35 residents. The school closed in 1961, and students were bussed to Wing, North Dakota. Left vacant, the school became a hazard and was demolished in the 1990s. Arena’s post office permanently shut its doors on March 23, 1996. Today, only remnants of Arena remain, including the former Saint John’s Lutheran Church, grain elevators, an old wooden building, and a few houses. The small yellow house was the last occupied structure. Some resident surnames included Leno, Rice, Wetzel, Barkman, Eide, Deehr, Boelter, Wutzke, and others. Saint John’s Cemetery lies 0.7 miles northeast of Arena on 392nd Street NE, while the Mennonite Zion Cemetery is 3.8 miles south of Arena on the same road.