Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Belcourt’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Belcourt is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Belcourt’s overall grade.
North Dakota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical North Dakota town has 2.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Belcourt’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (22% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.0 points). Two sources give 1884.
Founding year: Wikidata (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Belcourt’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Belcourt was laid out in 1884. It is named after Father Belcourt. The community was named Belcourt in honour of Georges-Antoine Belcourt. Father Belcourt was a French Canadian Roman Catholic diocesan priest and missionary who served the Chippewa and Métis throughout his ministry in the mid-nineteenth century. Belcourt advocated politically on the behalf of the Anishinaabeg and Métis in Canada and in the United States until 1859. Father Belcourt described the Chippewa historical territory in the Pembina River basin as covering an area about 400 miles from north to south and 500 miles from east to west.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Belcourt. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1968Belcourt 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 Belcourt.
Places that used to be
Old burying grounds
Belcourt’s post office has been open since 1888.
4cemeteries and burying grounds inside Belcourt
An - Qui - Ni - Gay IndianSaint Ann Catholic OriginalSaint Anns AdditionSaint Anns
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Belcourt’s history
What year was Belcourt founded?
In 1884, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Belcourt’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1980 counted 1,803 people here.
How does Belcourt rank for history?
Belcourt is more historic than 35% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
How old are the homes in Belcourt?
16% of Belcourt’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.0 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1983.
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).
From Wikipedia, 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) 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.
