Local news- Press Release
Cass County North Dakota - Fargo s First House 02 February 2024 ( news )
Cass County , state North Dakota ( By Press Release office)
Feb 02,2024
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Fargo’s first house was built by Harry Moore with help from George Mann in 1869 . Fargo at this time was just a city of tents in what was then Dakota Territory . In 1872 the house served as the Mann - Moore Hotel and in 1875 as a jail . The city paid rent of $15 per month for a year while the new jail was being built . The upstairs of the house was the jail . The main floor held the offices of the Sheriff and Mayor .
The house was close to the Red River , on the bank of the “slough” and what is now Island Park . This dwelling was later moved to higher ground ( in the one hundred block of South Fourth Street ) . The house was named “Elm Tree House” and was occupied by the Moore family until 1879 . The house was later purchased by Henry Hector and he lived there until his death in 1940 . The “Hector House” , as it became known , is credited with being Fargo ' s oldest wooden structure still in existence .
In 1974 , the Fargo Moorhead Board of Realtors and Multiple Listings Service donated the house to the Cass County Historical Society . Palmer Forness , a member of the Cass County Historical Society and a Fargo Fire Department Employee , did most of the restoration to the cabin . Replacing a few of the original logs and adding mixture of cement and sand to openings between the logs , the house was said to be near original condition by 1980 and can be found at Bonanzaville in West Fargo .
Images and content provided by the Cass County Historical Society and North Dakota State University Archives Library .
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