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History · Arnegard

Arnegard’s post office opened in 1906

Most of Arnegard was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1988. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1953 on, and the census since 1930.

1906first post office
0on the National Register
5%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Arnegard’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Arnegard began

When was Arnegard founded?

1906

The Arnegard post office opened in 1906, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 254 in 19302020 census: 282120 years
Founding year: the first Arnegard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Arnegard’s past

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

Shrank, then grewLost half of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.
★ What stands out · People over time

Arnegard, census by census

010020030019401960198020002020254 in 1930Low: 105

Lost half of its people between 1930 and 2000, then more than doubled.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

The story

How Arnegard came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Arnegard.

Read it all →

Arnegard was founded in 1906 and is named for brothers Evan Arnegard and Oscar Arnegard, the first homesteaders in the area. The first church was a one-room log cabin, the Wilmington Lutheran Church. It was so named because most of the people who founded Arnegard came from Spring Grove, Minnesota, where they belonged to the Old Wilmington Lutheran Church. The post office was established July 14, 1906 with Gerhard A. Stenehjem as postmaster. The town was incorporated in 1913 when the Great Northern Railroad extended its line past Watford City to Arnegard.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Arnegard, 1906 to 2020

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Arnegard post office opens
  3. 1937In the archiveOld blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie, North Dakota
  4. 1953On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 21st century
  6. 2020CensusPopulation peaks at 282
By decade

Arnegard, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s7 items
Old blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie, North Dakota1937Old blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie, North DakotaOld livery stable. Arnegard, McKenzie County, North Dakota1937Old livery stable. Arnegard, McKenzie County, North D…Old log church near Arnegard. McKenzie County, North Dakota1937Old log church near Arnegard. McKenzie County, North …Old log church near Arnegard. McKenzie County, North Dakota1937Old log church near Arnegard. McKenzie County, North …Duplex privy (open air model) near Arnegard. McKenzie County, North Dakota1937Duplex privy (open air model) near Arnegard. McKenzie…Arnegard, McKenzie County, North Dakota. Old man sitting on a store step1937Arnegard, McKenzie County, North Dakota. Old man sitt…Untitled photo, possibly related to: Arnegard, McKenzie County, North Dakota. Old man sitting on a store step1937Untitled photo, possibly related to: Arnegard, McKenz…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today11 recent
Looking SE - Nelson Park - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-042013Looking SE - Nelson Park - Arnegard North Dakota - 20…Looking S at gas flare at dawn - Fisher Place - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-072013Looking S at gas flare at dawn - Fisher Place - Arneg…Looking S along Main Street - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-062013Looking S along Main Street - Arnegard North Dakota -…Long long road - North Dakota - 2013-07-072013Long long road - North Dakota - 2013-07-07Grain elevator - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-042013Grain elevator - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-04Cornerstone - Wilimington Lutheran Church - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-062013Cornerstone - Wilimington Lutheran Church - Arnegard …Church basement - Wilimington Lutheran Church - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-062013Church basement - Wilimington Lutheran Church - Arneg…Bernice 1 and 2 well signs - Evanson Place - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-042013Bernice 1 and 2 well signs - Evanson Place - Arnegard…Bandstand and dancing - Centennial - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-062013Bandstand and dancing - Centennial - Arnegard North D…Arnegard Centennial Train - Independence Day - Arnegard North Dakota - 2013-07-042013Arnegard Centennial Train - Independence Day - Arnega…Arnegard, North Dakota 5-20-20082008Arnegard, North Dakota 5-20-2008
On the map

Arnegard on the map, 1953 to 1978

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

Arnegard on the 1953 USGS mapArnegard on the 1967 USGS mapArnegard on the 1978 USGS map1953Watford City sheet · 1:250,000

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

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Old blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie, North Dakota
Retake this viewOld blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie, North Dakota, 1937

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Arnegard’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Help out

Finish Arnegard’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOld blacksmith shop. Arnegard, McKenzie…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Arnegard’s history

What year was Arnegard founded?

The Arnegard post office opened in 1906, 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 (11), the Library of Congress (7), 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.