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Cass County North Dakota - How West Fargo Came To Be 23 February 2024 ( news )
Cass County , state North Dakota ( By Press Release office)
Feb 23,2024
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In the spring of 1872 , the Northern Pacific railroad reached Moorhead , MN and began its westward movement . Tracks were laid through this area that year continuing westward as far as Driscoll , N . D . This was a single line track and remained this way until 1884 , when the railroad company decided to build another track . After this was done , the area had double track to a point west of the Sheyenne River . This first section of double track was a most important event . This was a "whistle stop" and named "Haggart" after John E . Haggart , the person who owned the land , and what we now call West Fargo .
In 1889 North Dakota became a state and the Northern Pacific erected a section house and brought in a foreman and crew to maintain the track . In 1905 the railroad again did some building , this time erecting a station for feeding and watering cattle enroute from west to east . In 1913 a larger watering station was built along with a dam in the Sheyenne River to provide water for the steam engines .
On October 4 , 1916 , a group of farmers formed the "Equity Co - op Packing Co . " and built the Equity Packing Plant , which opened in 1919 . The land for the plant was purchased from John E . Haggart , who by now owned 22 sections of land north of the track between Fargo and Mapleton .
The Equity Cooperative Packing Company in 1919 .
The village that gradually built up around the plant was "Haggart . " Twenty - four homes were built in 1918 and 1919 on land purchased by Equity from Mrs . Augusta Sukut . A hotel was also built here with space for a store and a Post Office . At the same time the Northern Pacific built a depot north of the main tracks and west of the switch tracks leading to the plant .
In 1922 the Equity Packing Company fell into bankruptcy and was sold to Mr . Lewis Altenbernd , a farmer from the Sabin , MN area . Most of the people continued to live at "Haggart" and rented their homes from Mr . Altenbernd . Armour and Compnay eventually bought the plant and village site from Mr . Altenbernd in 1925 and the name was changed from "Haggart" to "Village of West Fargo" .
Armour Company in the 1930s .
However , the area that was south of Highway 10 was not included in the incorporation of the Village of West Fargo . By 1937 , residents in that area wanted to be recognized and on February 15 , 1937 , the Village of Southwest Fargo was incorporated .
Various events were held in the Union Stockyards such as livestock auctions and social gatherings .
Southwest Fargo continued to expand for the next few decades and in 1967 it changed its name to West Fargo and the Village of West Fargo became known as West Fargo Industrial Park . Seven years later the West Fargo Industrial Park changed its name again to the City of Riverside . In 1989 , the cities of Riverside and West Fargo merged to become what we now know as West Fargo .
Main Avenue in West Fargo in 1964 .
Images and content provided by the North Dakota State University Archives Library and Digital Horizons .
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