Following is a list of
the post offices which have been
established in the county, of which
there are twenty-two; Adler, Arvilla,
Belleville, Gilby, Grand Forks, Inkster,
Johnstown, Larimore, Lee, Manvel,
Northwood, Pilot, Reno, Reynolds,
Strabane, Thompson, Turtle River, Walle,
Aneta, Petersburgh, Niagara, and Ojata.
The following are railroad stations:
Arvilla, Grand Forks, Larimore, Manvel,
Reynolds, Thompson, Niagara, and Ojata.
The early settlement
was slow and confined to a very small
area. The development since 1880 has
been both rapid and general. The plats
of the towns of Arvilla, Ojata, and
Larimore were placed on file in 1882,
from the western part of the county, and
Manvel in the northern part, and Norton
and Reynolds in the south. Niagara was
settled in 1883.
Ojata, which was
formerly called Stickney, is situated
about eleven miles from Grand Forks, and
has a population of about 200. It has
tow elevators, several hotels and
boarding-houses, and six or eight
general stores. The country surrounding
it is well settled up, and largely under
cultivation.
Arvilla is located ten
and on-half miles west of Ojata and has
a population of about 150. It boasts of
one of the finest hotels in the
Northwest, and draws largely upon the
surrounding country for its support.
Norton and Reynolds in
the southern part of the county are
small settlements forming convenient
supply stations for the farmers near
them. Manvel, to the north, has a
population of about 100, and three or
four general stores and a number of
dwellings.
ORGANIZATION
-Under the organic act which created the
Territory of Dakota the county of Grand
Forks comprised in addition to its
present territory the eastern half of
Nelson and southern half of Walsh
counties. It also originally formed
portions of the old counties of Kitson
and Chippewa. At the time its boundaries
were first established the inhabitants
were entirely Indians and half-breeds,
and there were but a few of them.
The first attempt at
county organization was made in 1873,
when Governor Birbank appointed George
B. Winship, O. S. Freeman and Ole
Thompson a board of County
Commissioners. Of this organization o
official record remains, as they
transacted no business, there not being
enough inhabitants in the county at that
time to warrant the appointment of
county officers. Mr. Winship says that
he does not believe there were
seventy-five white men in all of Grand
Forks County.
In 1874, it was
organized by the Governor, who appointed
D. P. Reeves, Alex Griggs, and George A.
Wheeler, County Commissioners. This
board met at the residence of D. P.
Reeves, in Grand Forks, on the 2nd day
of March, 1875, at seven o’ clock, P. M.
Messrs., David P. Reeves, and George A.
Wheeler were present and organized by
the election of D. P. Reeves, Chairman.
The county officers,
who had been appointed previously, then
presented the required bonds, as
follows: James Elton, Register of Deeds;
Nicholas Hoffman, Sheriff; Thomas Walsh,
Treasurer and Judge of Probate; Thomas
Walsh, D. P. Reeves, Justice of the
Peace. Thomas Campbell and James
Milligan were appointed Constables, and
O. S. Freeman, District Attorney, but
failed to qualify; George A. Wheeler,
Superintendent of Schools. The
appointment of a coroner was deferred.
The next question
considered was that of school districts,
and after some discussion the county was
divided into two districts, the northern
half being District No. 1, and the
southern half District No. 2. The liquor
license was then fixed at $40 dollars
per year, which was subsequently raised
to $50. This was the work of the first
board of commissioners of Grand Forks
County at their first meeting.
The first tax levied on
property in this county was ordered
March 25, 1875, and was a five mill tax
for current expenses. On this day also
the first jail for the county was
ordered, and on April 16, a two mill tax
was levied for it construction. The
nearest paper at that time was Fargo
Times, published eighty-five miles from
Grand Forks, and in this paper the
county commissioners’ proceedings were
published until the establishment of the
Plaindealer at Grand Forks.
On July 5, the
commissioners met as a board of
equalization for the first time, and
righted the wrongs incident to all
assessments. At this meeting they fixed
the salary of the county clerk at $200
per year, out of which he was to pay his
own office rent.
September 16, 1875, was
the date of the first action in regard
to elections, when the county was
divided into precincts as follows:
Precinct No. 1, Townships 149 and 150,
Ranges 49, 50, 51 and 52 polls to be
open at the residence of Eric Anderson;
Precinct No. 2, Townships 151, 152, and
153, Ranges 50, 51 and 52 polls to be
open at the school house; Precinct No.
3, Townships 154, 155 and 156, Ranges 51
and 52 polls to be open at he residence
of Thomas Campbell.
The following gentlemen
were appointed as Judges of Election:
Precinct No. 1, Erick Anderson, Frank
Lambert, and Knud Ronen; Precinct No. 2,
E. B. Andrus, Nels. P. Olsen and George
Ames; Precinct No. 3, Thomas C.
Campbell, Duncan McMillan and James
McCaffrey.
On Monday, October 2,
another precinct was added, comprising
Townships 149 and 150, Ranges 54, 55,
and 56.
At the first regular
meeting in October, the board divided
the county into commissioner districts,
as follows: District No. 1, all the land
lying between the north boundary of the
county and the township line common to
151 and 152; thence west to the western
boundary of the county.
District No. 2, all the
land between the southern boundary of
District No. 1 and the section line
common to Sections 3 and 10, in Township
151, Range 50, extending west to the
boundary of the county.
District No. 3, all the
land between the southern boundary of
District No. 2 and the southern boundary
of the county, and west to the western
boundary line of the county.
On February 28, 1881,
by a special act passed over the
Governor’s veto, the Territorial
Legislature divided the county anew, and
its commissioner districts as they now
stand are a follows: District No. 1,
Townships 149, 150, of Ranges 50, 51,
and 52; District No. 2, Townships 151
and 152, Ranges 50 and 51; District No.
3, Township 152, Range 52, and Townships
153, 154, 155 and 156, of Ranges 50, 51,
and 52; District No. 4, Township 151,
Range 52, and Townships 149, 150, 151
and 152, of Ranges 53, 54, and 55, and
west to the county line; District No. 5,
Townships 153, 154, 155 and 156, of
Ranges 53, 54, and 55, and west to the
county line.
The Legislature
appointed the commissioners already
elected, to represent the First, Second
and Third districts, and designated W.
G. Williams, from the Fourth District,
and Robert Warren from the Fifth, to
hold until the time of the fall
election. The Legislature also set off
the southern half of Walsh County, and
in 1883 the eastern half of Nelson. This
reduced the size of the county so that,
at present, it is bounded on the north
by the north boundary of Townships 154,
on the east by the Red River, on the
south by the twelfth standard parallel,
and on the west by the west line of
Range 56.
The organized townships
in the county at present are as follows:
Township 154, Range 51, Turtle River;
154, Range 52, Levant; 154, Range 53,
Milan; 154, Range 54, Strabane; 154,
Range 55, Inkster; 154, Range 56.
Elkmount; Township 153, Ranges 50 and
51, Ferry; 153, Range 52, Lakeville;
153, Range 53, Gilby; 153, Range 54,
unorganized; 153, Range 55, Agnes; 153,
Range 56, Oakwood; Township 152, Range
50, Falconer; 152, Range 51, Rye; 152,
Range 52, Blooming; 152, Range53,
Mekinock; 152, Range 54, Hegton; 152,
Range 55, Elm Grove; 152, Range56,
Niagara; Township 151, Range 50, Grand
Forks; 151, Range 51, Brenna; 151, Range
52, Oakville; 151, Ranges 53 and 54,
Chester; 151, Ranges 55 and 56,
Larimore; Township 150, Ranges 49 and
50, Walle; 150, Ranges 51 and 52, and
149, Range 52, Allendale; 150, Range 53,
Pleasant View; 150, Range 54, Avon; 150,
Range 55, unorganized; 150, Range 56,
unorganized; Township 149, Range 49,
Bentru; 149, Range 50, Americus; 149,
Range 51, Michigan; 149, Range 58,
Washington; 149, Range 54, Northwood;
149, Range 55, Lind; 149, Range 56,
unorganized.
The following election
returns of the vote taken in the fall of
1882, will show, perhaps better than
anything else, the proportion of
inhabitants in each township: Americus,
30; West Chester, 71; East Chester, 61;
Niagara, 19; Northwood, 43; Strabane,
22; Ferry, 62; Walle, 43; Turtle River,
38; Deer Lake, 103; Township 150, Range
55, 16; Township 149, Range 55, 23;
Township 153, Range 59, 33; Larimore,
106; Rye, including Falconer, 36; Agnes,
26; Inkster, 26; Lakeville, 17; Grand
Forks Township, 21; Oakville, 61;
Pleasant View, 20; Adler, 6; Washington,
22; Bentru, 28; Milan, 12; Brenna, 14;
Elm Grove, 18; Mekinock, 18; Belleville,
30; Allendale, 50; Avon, 17; Blooming,
54; Gilby, 29; Levant, 7; 149, Range 61,
16; Grand Forks, 573. Total, 1,778.
The present officers of
the county are Wm. G. Williams, James
Duckworth, John Scott, Matt McGinness
and D. C. Allen, County Commissioners;
John P. Bray, Auditor; Thos. Walsh,
Register of Deeds; E. C. Elwood, O. E.
Tharaldson, Treasurers; James A. Jenks,
Sheriff; A. W. Bangs, Attorney; Alex
Oldham, Surveyor; Dr. Milo Scott,
Coroner, all of Grand Forks, and C. A.
Burton, of Mekinock, Superintendent of
Schools.
The present court
house, which is a substantial brick
building, was built in 1879 at a cost of
about $10,000, and contains, in addition
to a large and spacious court-room,
convenient and roomy offices for the
transaction of county business and the
storage of records and papers.
The new jail, now in
process of erection, is an imposing
structure composed of brick, mortar,
iron, and steel, and will comprise all
the latest improvements for the safe
keeping and proper care of criminals,
and when completed will cost nearly
$15,000.
The county buildings
are located at Grand Forks, the county
seat, where all business of a public
nature is transacted, and where the
legal business is all transacted.
The soil in this county
is a dark, rich loam, with a subsoil of
clay. The top soil varies in depth from
a fool and a half to three feet. The
county contains something more than
936,000 acres, over 900,000 of which are
held by agriculturists, and coming under
cultivation as fast as they can be
reached. There were never any land
grants or public sales in this county,
so that there are no large tracts held
by speculators, and there is but one
farm in the county of large size. For
several years the farmers raised nothing
but wheat, but now they are turning
their attention to other small grains,
as well as vegetables.
It has been shown by
actual experiment, that vegetables
produce well; and oats and barley give
almost incredible yields. This county is
pre-eminently an agricultural one, and
towns and villages are springing up
where market facilities are required,
and supplies can be advantageously
furnished the farmer. Manufactured goods
are all shipped in from the east at
present.
The land has been
mostly taken under the Homestead,
Pre-emption or Timber Culture acts of
Congress, and is in the main held by
actual residents. Before 1881 the county
of Grand Forks was in the Pembina land
district, but in that year a Land Office
was established at Grand Forks, in which
district the county now is. The land, as
soon as surveyed, is put upon the
market, and opened to settlement. The
following table shows the amount of land
which came upon the market at various
times, and comprises the entire county.
May 8, 1874, 14
complete townships; May 8, 1874, 6 half
townships, 17; January 13, 1877, 2; May
20, 1878, 2; May 11, 1878, 2; May 21,
1878, 4; May 11, 1881, 9; May 12, 1881,
5. Total number of townships, 41.
There is not a quarter
section, at present, which is available
for agricultural purposes that is not
filed upon.
The altitude of this
county above the sea is estimated at 800
feet and the climate in winter is
rigorous and sometimes severe. The
atmosphere is dry and dampness is the
exception. In winter the frost
penetrates the earth to a depth of from
eight to twelve feet, and at the latter
depth it is often found in July and
August. In dry seasons this occasions
enough moisture in thawing, to keep the
grain growing until it has reached a
growth sufficient to shade the roots
from the sun, and the heavy dews of the
cold nights incident to this climate all
through the year, step in and do their
share, so that a system of vegetation is
possible with but little rain, and
indeed, experience has shown that the
danger is from a superfluous amount of
water, rather than a deficiency.
Irrigation is in no case necessary, but
artificial drainage has been found
advantageous in all cases.
The county has an
excellent system of natural drainage.
The Red River, bounding it on the east,
is its great sewer, all the land sloping
toward it. In the west of the county is
hilly, and the water shed is traversed
by ravines and "coulees", as they are
called in the local vernacular, which
are nothing more than sink holes in the
prairie, which in turn, empty into
sloughs, which form ponds, and in some
cases, considerable lakes. These empty
into the rivers.
The Goose River is the
outlet for the southern part, and
empties into the Red River at Caledonia,
in Traill County. The Forest and Turtle
rivers drain the northern part, and
empty into the Red River north of Grand
Forks.
While Grand Forks is a
plain, with no apparent slope, this
drainage system is so perfect as to
effectually prevent floods; but there is
much land which this does not reach
directly enough, and the county is now
being put in better shape each year by
the artificial drains which individuals
are constructing through or around their
farms.
CITY OF GRAND FORKS
The early history of
the city of Grand Forks is co-incident
with that of the county, in as much as
it was the only settled point for miles
around, up to the year 1880.
In the winter of
1871-72, a young boy in the employ of
Captain McCormack made a pencil sketch
of the settlement, which is pronounced
by those who have seen both the original
and the picture, to be complete and
accurate. It shows ten buildings, viz.;
Captain Griggs’ residence, stable and
claim shanty; McCormack, Griggs &
Walsh’s store and saw mill; John
Fadden’s residence, stable and saloon,
and the steamboat boarding house and
carpenter shop.
The population at this
time was thirty-three. The saw mill of
McCormack, Griggs & Walsh made this
a desirable point for boat building, and
in 1871, Commodore N. W. Kitttson, of
the Hudson Bay Company, established a
boat yard here under the management of
D. P. Reeves. He built and launched the
"Dakota" which is still plying on the
Red River. The year 1882 was marked by
no other event than the location of the
shipyard, and at the close of the year
1873 more ship carpenters came in, and
more boats were built. At he close of
1873 the population was not far from one
hundred, and the business institutions
numbered three.
In November, 1873 the
Hudson Bay Company bought the store and
saw mill, and erected a fine store
building, which still occupies the lot
next to the Citizen’s National Bank on
Third street.
In the spring of 1874
the Hudson Bay Company erected the
present Northwestern Hotel, which was in
those days a palace of magnificence and
an ocean of room. It was the largest
building in the county, if not in the
northern half of the Territory.
This quiet little
frontier hamlet flourished and grew
without adequate transportation
facilities, and as has already been
stated, out of the necessities of the
case grew the Red River Transportation
Company.
This year 1874 was a
quiet one, the business interests just
about holding their own, and at the
close of the year the population was
about 160.
Early in 1875 a few of
the settlers got together in one of the
room in the Northwestern Hotel, and in a
few minutes secured $465 and pledges for
work, so that in less than three weeks
they had a school house completed, in
which Rev. Mr. Curle, a minister of the
Methodist Church taught the children of
the community.
In June, 1875, Hon.
George H. Walsh published the first copy
of the Plaindealer, which has long since
become a leading daily paper. The paper
was then about the size of an ordinary
letter sheet, and the work upon it was
all done by Mr. Walsh. He issued from
300 to 1,00 copies weekly. This was the
second paper established in the northern
part of the Territory.
On October 26, 1875,
Captain Griggs filed a plat of the
original town, comprising ninety acres
of his claim. At this time the
population was something over 200.
The village grew
quietly during the next tow years, and
on May 30, 1878, Mr. F. Viets filed an
addition to the original plat.
In 1878 the village was
organized by act of Legislature, and
under the charter Hon. George H. Walsh
was elected President, R. W. Cutts,
Clerk, and W. H. Brown, John McRae,
William Budge and Frank Viets, Trustees.
The population was then about 450. On
October 16, 1878, Walter J. S. Traill
platted an addition to the city.
At this time the
surrounding country was becoming
settled, and considerable grain was
growing, which of course made more
mercantile business in the village, and
it growth was steady if not rapid.
In 1879 the St. Paul,
Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway
showed undoubted signs of an early
entrance into the city, and trade,
immigration, and consequent growth,
improved materially. People came in from
all quarters, and the surrounding land
was rapidly taken up.
G. H. Walsh was
re-elected President, R. W. Cutts,
Clerk, and M. L. McCormack, Frank Viets,
John McRae, and Newton Porter were
elected Trustees.
On January 1, 1880, the
long expected and anxiously looked for
railroad reached Grand Forks, and it was
indeed a gala day. The population had
grown to 1,200, and was rapidly
increasing. New buildings were erected,
and new people came in, until in June,
the United States census returns showed
a population of 1,800. Elevators for the
receipt and shipment of wheat were
erected, and farmers came here to sell
their wheat and buy their supplies. Four
additions were placed upon the market in
that year, as follows: Alex. Griggs,
July 1; M. L. McCormack, August 12;
Budge & Eshelman, October 1; and
McKelvey & Holcomb, October 27.
On February 22, 1881,
Grand Forks was incorporated as a city,
with W. H. Brown, Mayor, and the
following members of the Common Council:
Frank Viets and John Fadden, first ward;
James Elton and A. L. Linton, second
ward; A. Abrahamson and H. Gotzian,
third ward; Newton Porter and Thomas
White, fourth ward; Charles Freeman and
E. Maloney, fifth ward; C. E. Teel and
M. L. McCormack, sixth ward.
The city is divided
into six wards.
The people of the city
elect a Mayor and a Common Council, who
appoint an attorney, a clerk, a
treasurer, a marshal, a civil engineer,
a chief of the fire department, and
assessor and a treasurer.
The salaries as fixed
at that time were as follows: Clerk,
$300 per year; assessor, $200 per year;
attorney, $300 per year; marshal, $900
per year; assistant marshal, $750 per
year; treasurer, $100 per year;
engineer, $6.50 per day while actually
employed.
In April, 1881, the St.
Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway
reached the city with its line from the
south, giving a quicker and more direct
communication with the east.
In the fall of 1881 the
erection of a commodious brick school
house was commenced, which was completed
at an expense of about $35,000.
In 1881 settlements
sprung up all over the county, which
naturally drew on Grand Forks fir
supplies, and thus a wholesale trade
commenced and grew, until now, the city
does a large amount during the year. At
the close of 1881 the population had
reached about 3,000.
In 1882 the growth of
the city was much more rapid and
substantial than ever before. Old
business enterprises enlarged and new
ones came in.
The Grand Forks Roller
Mills were started in August, furnishing
a good market for a large amount of
grain. The capital stock of the milling
company, of which M. L. McCormack is
president and general manager, is
$100,000, and the capacity of their mill
is 200 barrels per day.
An efficient fire
department was established and equipped
with the necessary apparatus, and a
police force was established.
The city bonded to the
extent of $15,000 for water works, and a
supply is taken form the Red River by
three Worthington pumps which have a
capacity of 1,250,000 gallons per day,
and will safely stand a strain of 180
pounds per inch on the mains. The
population at the close of 1882 was
about 7,000.
The year 1883 was
marked by no marvelous development. In
fact, the growth was neither rapid nor
substantial as that of 1882. Early in
the year, a disastrous fire destroyed
half of one of the most prominent blocks
of stores, upon the site of which Budge,
Griggs & Co. have erected a
three-story block with a frontage of 100
feet, which is a splendid piece of
workmanship, and a great addition to the
city.
And this Grand Forks
has risen: In 1871 it had one store and
thirty-three inhabitants. Now it has
nearly a mile and half of store
frontage, and over seven thousand
inhabitants. Then education was meager
and religion hardly remembered. Now the
foundation walls of a Territorial
University are laid, the city has a
splendid system of well attended public
school, and the joyful chimes of six
church bells ring out their glad anthems
every Sabbath morning.
THE PRESS ---
The Plaindealer, is the oldest paper in
the Red River Valley, having been
established in November, 1874, by Hon.
George H. Walsh. In September, 1880, it
was purchased by Mr. W. J. Murphy, the
present proprietor, and conducted by him
as a weekly until May 15, 1881, when the
Daily Plaindealer was started as an
evening journal. It is most ably edited;
has the afternoon associated press
dispatches, and every issue is brimful
of the general news of the day, especial
attention being given to home and
vicinity items and interests. Its
circulation is increasing and there is
no more creditable newspaper in the
Territory, being equal to any and second
to none. The Weekly Plaindealer is the
largest and one of the best papers
published west of St. Paul, and as a
farmer’s journal it stand without a
rival. It is the aim of Mr. Murphy to
keep it at the front. The subscription
list is growing, the circulation being
at present about 1,700, and especial
pains are being taken constantly to make
this the best advertising medium in the
Northwest. In the connection with the
news department is a first-class job
office. Five new and improved
steampresses are kept continually busy
turning out fine job printing of all
kind, from the heavy poster to the
daintiest card. None but first-class
workmen are employed, and all the latest
styles and varieties of the times in the
line of typographical designs are
secured. The job department of the
Plaindealer has a standard reputation
for the satisfactory work done and the
reasonable rates charged. In every way
it is a creditable industry to the
Northwest, to the city of Grand Forks
and it enterprising proprietor.
The Grand Forks Weekly
Herald was established June 26, 1879, by
Mr. George B. Winship, its present
editor and proprietor. It was issued
semi-weekly from March 1, 1881, to
November 1, of the same year, when the
Daily was established. It is a
seven-column sheet, ably and carefully
edited; contains the full associated
press dispatches, and thoroughly
represents the popular sentiment in
North Dakota. The recent absorption of
the daily and weekly News by Herald
makes the latter one of the most
extensively circulated and influential
journals in the Northwest. It is
Republican in politics and in full
keeping with the best journalists
features of the day.
The Tidende is a
Scandinavian paper which was established
in 1880. It is the only paper printed in
the Scandinavian language in the county,
it circulation is large and increasing
weekly; its politics are Republican, and
it is ably edited and managed by Mr. T.
Gutbranson, who is an experienced
journalist and a gentleman of prominence
and influence in the community,
especially among the countrymen.
LARIMORE --- The
site of the present city of Larimore
settled upon by A. F. Clark, Esq., in
March , 1881. Mr. Clark took land under
the homestead laws, and made the
necessary improvements. In March, 1882,
he sold it to Elk Valley Farming
Company, of which Oscar M. Towner was at
that time president. This company filed
a plat of the original town on the 29th
day of March, 1882. Mr. L. P. Goodhue
arrived here in May, 1881, and in August
of that year opened the first store of
any kind in the town, having then to
bring his goods by team from Ojata, to
which point the railroad was completed.
Among the buildings of any prominence
following the construction of Mr.
Goodhue’s store, was the Union Hotel,
Mr. George Leavitt’s livery stable, W.
B. Barkman’s hardware store and N. S.
Nelson’s general merchandise store.
The Elk Valley Farming
Company own a large tract of land
adjoining the city on the south, and at
this time it was not under cultivation,
and the land immediately tributary on
other sides had not yet been settled,
and until the arrival of the railroad,
there was little chance for Larimore to
improve.
In December, 1881, the
St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba
Railroad reached the city, and people
began to come from all points, and the
surrounding country was settled rapidly.
In the early part of December, Mr. L. P.
Goodhue was appointed Postmaster, and
the first regular mails arrived. The
reports of wheat buyers at Larimore show
that there were 50,000 bushels of wheat
marketed at that point in 1881. The
entire population upon the completion of
the railroad did not exceed twenty-five.
The year 1882 was one
of progress unprecedented in the annals
of this section. Building went up by day
and by night, and people came in larger
numbers than could be cared for, until
in December the population reached
nearly 900.
The first school was
taught by Miss F. F. Stoner, and was
held in Noltimier’s Hall. It was opened
early in the spring of 1882. The
teachers of the first regular public
school were Messrs., George A. Stanton
and James J. Doherty. They taught for a
term of six months, when, after a short
vacation, a three months term was taught
by Misses Flora Blackman and B. Berlin.
Messrs., Pillsbury and
Hulburt and the Northwestern Elevator
Company of Minneapolis built two
elevators during the summer of 1882,
with a capacity of 75,000 and 40,000
bushels, respectively. There were about
300,000 bushels of wheat marketed here
from the crop of 1882.
On June 29, 1882, a
fire broke out in an addition to the
Union Hotel, just in process of
construction. With the limited means at
hand of controlling the conflagration,
which threatened to wipe this fair young
city out of existence, nothing could be
done to check it ravages, and not until
it had burned all of the southeastern
part of the town, comprising nearly half
of the buildings, could it be
controlled. With that enterprise and
push which makes cities out of hamlets
blow, and in three months not a trace of
the fire remained.
The first church,
(Presbyterian) was organized on the 6th
of August, 1882, with fourteen members.
A church building was erected the same
fall, at a cost of $1,700. Rev. J. C.
Cherryholmes was it first pastor.
In March, 1882, Mr. C.
C. Walcott opened the first bank and did
business until December, when the
institution was organized as a national
bank, with A. J. Browne, president; C.
C. Walcott, vice president; and Charles
A. Browne, cashier. Their paid up
capital is $50,000.
On June 2, 1883, it was
decided by popular vote to bond the
school district for $6,000, to build a
school house, and in September the
erection of a very handsome edifice was
commenced, which, when completed, will
have cost $8,000 or $9,000.
The first city election
occurred June 5, 1883, at which time the
following officers were elected: W. N.
Roach, Mayor; C. G. Reynolds, Clerk and
Treasurer; E. C. Shortridge, Justice;
and W. H. Fellows, George W. Murdoch, H.
A. Noltimier, George M. Naylor, Solomon
H. Bailey and A. Zachman, Councilmen.
The Larimore Pioneer
was the first newspaper established. It
was first issued in February, 1882,
being followed by the Leader in March of
the same year. The former paper was
owned and edited by W. M. Scott &
Co., and the latter by Bennett &
Murphy, of Grand Forks, and edited by A.
W. Dunn.
The present population
of Larimore is about 1,100. The city has
a large and growing trade from the
surrounding country, which is being
settled very rapidly. A large amount of
grain is hauled here annually, from
points several miles distant. The growth
of the place is steady and substantial,
and the result is a solid business town.