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History · Argusville

Argusville’s post office opened in 1881, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1930.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Argusville began

When was Argusville founded?

1881

The Argusville post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 115 in 19302020 census: 480145 years
Founding year: the first Argusville post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Argusville’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Argusville’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 Argusville came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Argusville.

Read it all →

Argusville was founded in 1881, when the railroad was extended to that point. The city most likely derived its name from a local newspaper, the Daily Argus. A post office was established at Argusville in 1881, and remained in operation until 1982.

In 1890, Argusville was the site of one of North Dakota's deadliest tornadoes (then called an "inland hurricane") which killed seven people. Some locals claim that the town has never emotionally recovered.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Argusville, 1881 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Argusville post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1982Post officeThe Argusville post office closes
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

Argusville on the map, 1963 to 1984

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

Argusville on the 1963 USGS mapArgusville on the 1976 USGS mapArgusville on the 1984 USGS map1963Argusville 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 Argusville.

People over time

Argusville, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020480

Grew from 115 people in 1930 to 480 in 2020, 4 times over.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Argusville

Nobody well known was born in Argusville itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Doug BurgumUnited States Secretary of the Interior · b. 1956
Jake HagerFormer american professional wrestler and mixed… · b. 1982
Bobby VeeAmerican singer · b. 1943
C
Clyfford StillAmerican artist · b. 1904
W
William H. GassAmerican fiction writer, critic, philosophy pro… · b. 1924
CariDee EnglishAmerican model · b. 1984
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Argusville had its own post office from 1881 to 1982.

Argusville
1881–1982
18801950today

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Argusville’s history

What year was Argusville founded?

The Argusville post office opened in 1881, 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 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.