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–Not graded
History · Aneta

Aneta dates to 1882, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1967 on and the census since 1910.

1882founded
0on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Aneta began, and where its name came from

When was Aneta founded?

1882

Aneta dates its founding to 1882 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 654 in 19102020 census: 234144 years

How did Aneta get its name?

Aneta was named after Anna Roseta Mitchell, the first woman settler in the community.

Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1883. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Aneta’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 Aneta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Aneta’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Aneta’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

How Aneta came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Aneta.

Read it all →

Aneta was first settled in 1882. It was named after Anna Roseta Mitchell, the first woman settler in the community. Because the Sheyenne River flows nearby, the town was nicknamed, "The Queen City of the Upper Sheyenne." Aneta's Post Office was established in 1883. In 1896, a railway station was established when the Great Northern Railroad extended a branch line 28 miles from Hope to Aneta. The city then quickly became a boomtown.

Aneta was incorporated as a village in October 1897 and as a city on May 14, 1903.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Aneta, 1882 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882
    FoundingAneta is established
  3. 1883Post officeThe Aneta post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1967On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Aneta on the map, 1967 to 1985

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

Aneta on the 1967 USGS mapAneta on the 1985 USGS map1967Aneta 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 Aneta.

People over time

Aneta, census by census

0100200300400500600700192019401960198020002020Peak: 662

Between 222 and 662 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Ora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Aneta’s history

What year was Aneta founded?

In 1882, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Aneta’s post office opened in 1883, and the census of 1910 counted 654 people here.

Memory lane

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

Town Square →
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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 Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.