Local news- Press Release
Cass County North Dakota - Casselton The Eary Years 16 February 2024 ( news )
Cass County , state North Dakota ( By Press Release office)
Feb 16,2024
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The site of what is now Casselton was first settled in 1873 by Mike Smith , an employee of Northern Pacific Railroad . He was to grow cottonwood and willow trees to serve as windbreaks , as well as replacement ties for railroad use . He lived in a furnished boxcar , sodded on the top and sides , and located south of the tracks . The venture was a virtual failure due to the seedlings dying in transit and the soil not being properly conditioned prior to planting . Fortunately , the failure of the nursery was not an indication of the future of Casselton .
Looking north from First Street and Sixth Avenue in 1882 .
Casselton was originally named Goose Creek , a translation of Aux Ontardes , the name given to a nearby creek by early French explorers . Railroad officials preferred the name Swan Creek , and that name was used until early 1876 when the railroad established a station called Casstown after George Cass , president of the Northern Pacific . The name was finally changed to Casselton on August 8 , 1876 , when a post office was established .
Early Casselton from the south .
Mike Smith was joined by Emil Priewe , a German immigrant , and his wife in 1874 and on March 28 , 1875 , their son , Harry , was born in a sod shanty; the first child born in Casselton . By 1875 , the population was five . Later that year ten more people came to Casselton and by 1880 the official census was 376 .
The first business , a combination lumberyard - elevator , was built in 1876 by N . K . Hubbard and E . S . Tyler . A school was organized in 1878 and the first annual meeting in 1879 showed two school aged children living in town and seven or eight more living on nearby farms .
P . S . Houghton Drug and Hunter and Riddell Dry Goods in 1885 were among the first of many businesses .
The First National Bank about 1884 .
The early impact of farming was felt heavily by Casselton . While Mike Smith was establishing the nursery in Swan Creek , Northern Pacific stock dropped drastically , and the railroad announced it would accept bonds at par value for railroad land . Cass and Peter Cheney , a Northern Pacific director , traded a portion of their stock for 10 , 000 acres near Casselton for the equivalent of about fifty cents an acre . They decided to develop this land into one large farm instead of breaking it up into smaller tracts . They hired Oliver Dalrymple , an experienced farm manager from southern Minnesota , to run their operation .
Dalrymple built the first frame structure between Fargo and Bismarck in 1875 east of Casselton . Actual farming operations began in 1876 when 1 , 280 acres of wheat were planted and another 3 , 200 acres were broken . The overall venture proved successful and along with its success came proof of the tremendous agricultural potential the land afforded . Prior to the Cass - Cheney "Bonanza" farm many thought the prairie was not suitable for agriculture , but with high yields a proven reality , the way was paved for farming to become a dominant part of prairie life .
Shocked wheat in 1887
In order to attract people to the prairie the railroad began an extensive publicity program both in America and Europe . Casselton did its own campaigning to attract people to the area . For example , in 1885 the Dakota Blizzard , one of Casselton ' s two newspapers during the 1880s , ran an article stating "Casselton Township raises more wheat than any territory of equal size in the world . . . " Another article claimed Casselton "ranks foremost in culture and intelligence . "
The corner of Front Street and Langer Avenue about 1900 . The Opera House , on the second floor of the Big Store , was considered the finest between Minneapolis and Spokane .
With the public attention the area received , it ' s little wonder that Casselton experienced rapid growth through the late 1880s . In April 1885 the population was 724 and by August it had mushroomed to 1 , 365 .
Front Street looking west from the Cass County State Bank about 1900 . The building to the left is N . K . Hubbard Feed , later H . M . Washburn Feed . The building burned in 1924 . Today , over one hundred and fifty years after Mike Smith spent the winter in Swan Creek in a refurbished boxcar , Casselton remains a thriving community with over 2 , 500 residents . Agriculture continues to drive the development of the region , and Casselton ' s innovation and technological advancement in that area will shape what the community will look like over the next one hundred and fifty years .
Images and content provided by the North Dakota State University Archives Library .
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