Capitol Park
Capitol Park is located on the corner of Divide Avenue and Fourth Street.
Myron Atkinson Park
Myron Atkinson Park is located to the east side of State Street. The park was leased by Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department and they took care of all maintenance from 1955 until July 1, 2007.
History of Myron Atkinson Park
Myron H. Atkinson Sr. a well‐known civic leader and Bismarck’s city auditor from 1920‐52, was born January 28, 1896, in Pittsfield, Maine. The family moved to Fargo, ND in 1899 and to Bismarck in 1905.
Mr. Atkinson graduated from Bismarck High School in 1914 and attended Williams College in Massachusetts, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1918.
Myron Atkinson Sr. enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1918 and served for 15 months. He then returned to Bismarck and worked for his father, who was the city engineer. In the summer of 1920 he was appointed acting city auditor and became the auditor permanently several months later.
He married Julia Weber on February 8, 1921, in Bismarck. They had two children, Caroline A. Atkinson Moyer and Myron H. Atkinson, Jr.
As Bismarck’s senior administrative official for 32 years, Atkinson guided the administration of nearly every city government activity. He served as secretary and in other administrative offices for nearly every municipal function, including the Bismarck Merit System Commission, Board of Managers of the World War Memorial Building, Bismarck Planning Commission, Bismarck Board of Zoning Adjustment, Waterworks System, and the Bismarck Park District.
Mr. Atkinson’s leadership and influence were felt beyond the city of Bismarck at state and national levels. He helped fashion the state’s progressive municipal legislation through his work with the League of North Dakota Municipalities, an organization he helped found in 1927. He served as executive secretary of the League from its inception.
He was a nationally recognized authority on municipal government and served for three years as a trustee of the American Municipal Association. In January 1953 the AMA honored him for his 25 years of service to the cities and villages of North Dakota as executive director of the League of Municipalities.
He died February 26, 1953, at the age of 57. Thomas Kleppe, mayor of Bismarck at that time, declared, “Myron Atkinson left his footprints all over Bismarck. No man has done as much as he for this city nor is anyone likely to do as much in the future.”