Roger Maris Museum
Welcome to the Roger Maris Museum
West Acres Shopping Center
3902 13th Avenue South
Fargo, North Dakota

A permanent shrine to a reluctant hero.

When approached with the idea of creating a museum in his honor, New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris, who hailed from Fargo, initially declined out of humility. Eventually, though, he would say, “Put it where people will see it, and where they won’t have to pay for it.” Maris is best known for hitting sixty-one home runs in 1961. His 61 in '61 set a new major league record, breaking Babe Ruth’s previous mark of 60 hit in 1927.

The Roger Maris Museum opened in 1984. True to Roger’s wishes, the museum couldn’t be more accessible. Housed in the West Acres Shopping Center in Fargo, the museum allows visitors to re-live Roger’s legendary life every minute the mall is open — every day of the year but Christmas Day, Easter and Thanksgiving. Well over 7 million people visit the mall in a year, and while museum officials don’t keep track of how many stop to view the Roger memorabilia, museum developer Jim McLaughlin says, “You’re hardly ever here when there isn’t somebody looking at it.”

In 2003, the museum was completely rebuilt by West Acres. Pat Maris and members of the Maris family were special guests at the re-dedication, along with Jim McLaughlin, who created the original museum with American Legion Post No. 2. The renovated museum has new glass, lighting and ventilation to better preserve and showcase the artifacts. Other exciting features of the museum include:
  • A video room to watch an expanded collection of videos while sitting on actual Yankee Stadium seats from the Maris era.
  • A replica of Roger’s Yankee Stadium monument.
  • A replica of Roger’s 1961 locker.
  • Displays and artifacts from Roger’s youth and Major League playing days.
  • Artifacts restored from the original museum.


Links

In the Travel section of the April 8, 2005 USA Today article, the Roger Maris Museum is listed as one of "10 great places to touch base with the best". Click here to read the article in pdf format (277k PDF - 2 min download on 56k connection).

An April 11, 2005 Business Week article, "Take Me Out To The Museum," quotes Roger Maris' widow, Pat Maris, on the museum. Click here to read the article in pdf format (804k PDF- 5 min download on 56k connection).

Click the baseballs at the left for more information on Roger Maris and the Roger Maris Museum.

For more information on Roger and his accomplishments, visit the Official Roger Maris Website.