This building served as a warehouse for the G.C. Wachter Dray & Transfer Company for many years.
The Wachters are a prominent family that have made a tremendous impact on many of the city’s most important developments, most notably Kirkwood Mall and the Bismarck Civic Center.
At one time, the Wachter Family owned most of the land south of the railroad, including the land that now holds the Bismarck Civic Center and Kirkwood Mall. The Wachters were heavily engaged in farming and ranching. The Wachter Warehouse was built in 1929 on the corner of Front Avenue & 5th Street, and the building remains standing today.
In 1970, Paul H. Wachter achieved his decade-long dream when he developed Kirkwood Plaza Shopping Center. The Wachter Family maintained ownership of the region’s largest shopping center until selling it in 1984 for a reported $40 million.
The Wachter’s fortunes began to change in the mid 1980s. Kirkwood Motor Inn, whose primary owner was Paul C. Wachter, was foreclosed on in 1987. One year later saw the foreclosure of the 30,000-acre Wachter Ranch. A report filed in 1989 stated that Paul C. Wachter alone owed more than $30 million to lenders.
Wachter Middle School is named the Wachter Family, after they donated 10 acres of land for its construction in 1967. The first school named for the Wachter Family was constructed in 1918, named for Charles Wachter, who was a member of the Bismarck School Board at the time. The Bismarck Civic Center and Wachter Aquatic Center were also built on land donated by the Wachter Family.
