North Dakota is a relatively young state when you look at the numbers, so luckily a lot of the state’s history is well documented with photographs. You can truly get a glimpse back in time to the early days of the Peace Garden State. It was when the cities were exploding with growth and farms were quick to come up, but also quick to die off due to things like major droughts. It was a prosperous time, but also rough. And it laid the groundwork down to wait North Dakota is today. Here are 11 photographs from those early days that are beyond fascinating:
- This photograph shows what was a typical North Dakota farm at the time in the 1910s.
Charles Edward Russell/Wikimedia commons
- The railroad station in Fargo, North Dakota. The sign advertises round trip tickets from Fargo to Minneapolis for just $5.20.
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
- The Grand Forks County courthouse and surrounding street in 1915.
Wikimedia commons
- Early houses in North Dakota’s statehood were often made of sod, logs, or both, as shown in this early 1900s photograph.
Charles Edward Russell/Wikimedia commons
- Window browsing on the city streets of Williston, North Dakota in 1937.
Russell Lee/yale.edu
- The counting room floor of the Bank of North Dakota, taken around 1920.
Charles Edward Russell/Wikimedia commons
- The US post office and courthouse in Bismarck, North Dakota. This was photographed in 1913.
Wikimedia commons
- This photo taken in 1920 shows former North Dakota governor Lynn Frazier at a farm. Frazier was the first governor in the country to ever be recalled, which happened just a year after this was taken.
Charles Edward Russell/Wikimedia commons
- The Renville County Courthouse in Mohall, North Dakota.
Wikimedia commons
- A road through the wheat fields near Minot, North Dakota.
Marion Post Wolcott/yale.edu
- The Science Hall of the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks, ND, taken in 1907.
Wikimedia commons
North Dakota has been a state for over 125 years now. Wouldn’t it be interesting to see what it is like to look back onto now in a century’s time? What do you think will be different then?
Charles Edward Russell/Wikimedia commons
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
Wikimedia commons
Russell Lee/yale.edu
Marion Post Wolcott/yale.edu
This state’s history runs from that time long ago all the way to history being made today. Discover more recent, yet still mesmerizing photographs of decades past in North Dakota during the 1970s.
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