Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site | |
| Location | McKenzie and Williams counties, North Dakota, and Richland and Roosevelt counties, Montana |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Williston, North Dakota |
| Coordinates | 47°59′58″N 104°2′26″W / 47.99944°N 104.04056°W |
| Area | 444 acres (1.80 km2) |
| Built | 1828 |
| Architectural style | Greek Revival |
| Visitation | 16,940 (2005) |
| Website | Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000103 (original) 100011805 (increase 1) 100011806 (increase 2) |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Boundary increases | May 9, 2025 May 9, 2025 |
| Designated NHL | July 4, 1961 |
| Designated NHS | June 20, 1966 |
Fort Union Trading Post National Historic Site is a partial reconstruction of the most important fur trading post on the upper Missouri River from 1829 to 1867. The fort site is about two miles from the confluence of the Missouri River and its tributary, the Yellowstone River, on the Dakota side of the North Dakota/Montana border, 25 miles from Williston, North Dakota.
In 1961, the site was designated by the Department of Interior as one of the earliest declared National Historic Landmarks in the United States. The National Park Service formally named it as Fort Union Trading Post to differentiate it from Fort Union National Monument, a historic frontier Army post in New Mexico.
The historic site interprets how portions of the fort may have looked in 1851, based on archaeological excavations and contemporary drawings. Among the sources were drawings by Swiss artist Rudolf Kurz, who worked as the post clerk in 1851.