Date of Award

August 2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Geography & Geographic Information Science

First Advisor

Douglas C. Munski

Abstract

This thesis is more a micro-case study than usual in historical geography focused on land use change, historic preservation, heritage tourism, and informal education at the Grand Forks County Historical Society Museum Village in Grand Forks, North Dakota. The research questions focused on the interconnections of the relationships among people’slocation value, the reinterpretation of the location through historical lenses, and the sequence occupance of the area. The research methodology was grounded in traditional themes of historical geography and was a mixed methods style of data collection and data analysis. The tools of inquiry emphasized the use of 3D imaging, aerial photography, and cartography to create a, model for understanding the interplay of landscape change over time using a modified approach to classical, sequence occupance by the incorporation of elements of study related to the preservation of material culture, concepts based in the humanities, and the applications of formal and informal education for two groups of stakeholders associated with this county historical society. An application of the use of 3D imaging emphasized ways of documenting placements of buildings on the site from before the 1997 flood of the Red River Valley of the North and after the construction of a floodwall that is part of the flood mitigation infrastructure along this site which is the former homestead of the Campbell Family. The application produced successful results such that the approach used in this case study justify that it is recommended for other places seeking to understand the effects of population shifts. land use change, and the evolving sense of community as a part of promoting heritage tourism and including the incorporation of 3D imaging. Thus, demonstrating utilization of such geospatial technology within a more micro-case study of the Grand Forks County Historical Society’s museum village is the major contribution of this study within historical geography.

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