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History · Fargo

Fargo’s post office opened in 1898

Most of Fargo was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1975. Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 2000.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Michael Rivera · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Fargo began

When was Fargo founded?

1898

The Fargo post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 380 in 20002020 census: 250128 years
Founding year: the first Fargo post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fargo’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Fargo are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fargo’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fargo’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Fargo, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fargo yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Fargo is a city in Clinch County, Georgia, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 250. Formerly a town, it was incorporated by the Georgia state legislature in 1992, effective from April 1. Fargo is one of the most remote cities in Georgia, with the only settlement in almost 20 miles being Williamsburg. Fargo is located near the Okefenokee Swamp and is the western gateway to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. Also nearby is Stephen C. Foster State Park. The Bugaboo Fire threatened the city in April and May 2007.

Its first post office opened in 1898. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 321 to 250 (-22%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

From the old history books

What they wrote about Fargo in 1916

Passages that mention Fargo, cut from the printed page as they were published.

The town of Fargo was laid out on the banks of the Suwannee River, and is to-day one of the most flourishing towns in the county. It has several stores, a large hotel and other
History of Clinch County, Georgia, revised to date, giving the early history of the county down to the present time (1916)1916 · page 85Read the page →
Read the text

The town of Fargo was laid out on the banks of the Suwannee River, and is to-day one of the most flourishing towns in the county. It has several stores, a large hotel and other

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Within a very short time another large saw-mill was put up six miles East of Fargo, on the new railroad, by the American Manufacturing Company, a corporation. Their mills are about as large as the Fargo plant. The place was called "Council," in honor of the principal owners of the mill, John M. and…
History of Clinch County, Georgia, revised to date, giving the early history of the county down to the present time (1916)1916 · page 86Read the page →
Read the text

Within a very short time another large saw-mill was put up six miles East of Fargo, on the new railroad, by the American Manufacturing Company, a corporation. Their mills are about as large as the Fargo plant. The place was called "Council," in honor of the principal owners of the mill, John M. and C. M. Council, of Americus, Ga.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Timeline

Fargo, 1898 to 1987

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Fargo post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1987Born hereBoris Lee is born here
By decade

Fargo, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Stephen Collins Foster memorial2014Stephen Collins Foster memorialSolar panels next to Suwannee River2014Solar panels next to Suwannee RiverOkefenokee Swamp historical marker2014Okefenokee Swamp historical markerGeorgia Forestry Commission Tower2014Georgia Forestry Commission TowerFargo welcome, US441 NB2014Fargo welcome, US441 NBFargo water tower, US4412014Fargo water tower, US441Fargo limit, US441 SB2014Fargo limit, US441 SBFargo city limit, GA94 EB2014Fargo city limit, GA94 EBFargo cemetery, Clinch County2014Fargo cemetery, Clinch CountyFargo United Methodist Church, Clinch County2014Fargo United Methodist Church, Clinch CountyBuilding on stilts next to Suwannee River2014Building on stilts next to Suwannee RiverFargoCityHall2012FargoCityHall
On the map

Fargo on the map, 1967 to 1987

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fargo. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fargo on the 1967 USGS mapFargo on the 1987 USGS map1967Fargo sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fargo.

People over time

Fargo, census by census

010020030040020002020Peak: 380

Between 250 and 380 people in every census since 2000.

3 censuses, 2000–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Fargo’s Wikipedia page.

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Echols County2 historic placesC

Questions about Fargo’s history

What year was Fargo founded?

The Fargo post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (12), Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.