A boarding house was built by the Townsite Company in the fall of 1882 to be used by the carpenters while they were building the business places on the townsite. The Dakota House was operated by H.P. Merrill and was sometimes referred to as the "Hotel de Merrill". Mr. Merrill had also built a bakery, confectionery, and restaurant on Lenham Avenue opposite his boarding house and hotel in 1883. By August of that year Merrill sold his restaurant and property to William Lenham. For a short time H.H. Retzlaff ran the hotel and restaurant in addition to his hotel on Burrell.

Alex Urquardt opened up a carpenter shop in the building in 1891. From 1892 until about 1901, the house was used as a residence for I.E. Mills and Joseph Tiller. In 1901 F.W. Johnson moved his family into the residence and also operated his tailor shop there for a short time.

About 1902, Mat-tin Lunde purchased the residence.

Other early boarding houses included: Thomas Knutson's Boarding House on Lenham in 1884, Mrs. Zimmerman's Boarding House in the old Newell Drugstore building on Lenham and Tenth in 1885, and Henry Hougen's Boarding House in 1885.

In 1981, the building once again became known as the "Dakota House". It is presently used by the Griggs County Arts Council

Source: Cooperstown, North Dakota 1882-1982 Centennial Page 187