Towns / Cities
All Information from the Book "North Dakota Place Names" by Douglas A Wick

This was a platted subdivision in SW 1/4 Section 5-151-50. Grand forks Township, at a junction of Great Northern RR lines just west of the city of Grand Forks. It appeared on maps during the 1920s and is now a part of Grand Forks. The name is descriptive.

Settlers arrived here in 1868, making Grand Forks the oldest of North Dakota's four major cities, and the second oldest permanent white settlement in the state. The post office was established June 15, 1870 with Stanford C. Cady postmaster, who named it using the English translation of "Les Grandes Fourches" the name given this place by early French explorers to note the confluence of the Red and Red Lake Rivers. Captain Alexander Griggs, owner of most of the original townsite, platted Grand Forks in 1875. It incorporated as a village in 1878 and became a city in 1881 with William H Brown as mayor. It was named county seat when Grand Forks County organized in 1873 and sprawls over six sections of Grand Forks Township (151-50) and two sections of Falconer Township (152-50). It reported a population of 30 in 1870, but had grown to a city of over 7,000 residents when North Dakota became a state in 1889. For most of this century it was the state's second largest city, but its 1980 population of 43,760 allowed Bismark to move into second place. The University of North Dakota was founded in 1883, Making Grand Forks the state's center for higher education in 1922, and the North Dakota School for the Blind moved here from Bathgate in 1961. The elevation is 836, and the Zip Code is 58201. Arthur G. Sorlie (1874-1928), governor of North Dakota 1925-1928, was born here.

This was a Great Northern Rail Road station built in 1881 in SW 1/4 Section 31-151-50, Grand Forks Township, six miles south of Grand Forks. It was named for site owner Webster Merrifield (1852-1916), a native of Vermont who became a charter faculty member of UND in 1883, and served as its president 1891-1901. The Post Office was established November 9, 1886 with Hattie M. Thompson pm, and closed June 15, 1895. it reopened October 23, 1895, closed January 2, 1907,reopened March 27, 1907, and closed for good January 31, 1954 with mail in all instances going to Grand Forks. A small village existed at the site for many years, reporting populations of 18 in 1890 and 12 in 1960, but the site is now virtually abandoned.

Business History

Schools

Schroeder Junior High School  Section 22

Viking School  Section 15

Sunset Memorial Gardens  Section 21   Map

Calvary Cemetery  Section 04  Map

Montefiore Cemetery

Memorial Park Cemetery  Section 04   Map

Churches

Historical, Genealogical and Ethnic Events

Photographs

Personal and Community Stories about this Area