The story
Read it all →How Beulah came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Beulah.
Beulah was founded in 1914. It was named after Beulah Stinchcombe, the niece of a local land developer.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
C−History
History · Beulah
Beulah’s post office opened in 1914, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns · #13 of 23 in North Dakota. What drives it
Most of Beulah was built recently: 7% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1981. Its Register listing is the Beulah School. Below: maps from 1968 on and the census since 1920.
1914first post office
1on the National Register
7%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Quick answers
How Beulah began, and where its name came from
When was Beulah founded?
1914
The Beulah post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Thomas (1909) and Farrington (1910), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 552 in 19202020 census: 3,058112 years
How did Beulah get its name?
Beulah was named after Beulah Stinchcombe, the niece of a local land developer.
How historic is Beulah?
C−
What drives the grade ↓More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Beulah post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Beulah’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Beulah is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #13 of 23 in North Dakota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Beulah’s overall grade.
Founding era1914, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 19407.2% of homes (±3.9) · typical ND town 7.2% · U.S. 8.4%C+National Register1 listing, 3.3 per 10,000 residents · typical ND town 2.8 · U.S. 2.4B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 24%
NewerOlder
North Dakota towns of 2,500+ (23)Ahead of 45%
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 Beulah’s 3.3 sits near the middle of its state (49% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% 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 (±3.9 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Beulah’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Beulah’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Beulah’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Beulah’s post office has been open since 1914. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Thomas
Farrington
Beulah
19001960today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Timeline
Beulah, 1909 to 1968
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 20th century
- 1909Post officeThe Thomas post office opens
- 1910Post officeThe Thomas post office closes
- 1910Post officeThe Farrington post office opens
- 1914Post officeThe Farrington post office closes
- 1914Post officeThe Beulah post office opens
- 1920
BuiltBeulah School is built - 1943
Born hereAlvin Jaeger is born here - 1968
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Beulah, decade by decade
2025
2025
2025
2025
2025
2010
2009On the map
Beulah on the map, 1968 to 1991
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Beulah. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1968Beulah sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Beulah.
On the National Register
1 historic place in Beulah
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Beulah School
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Prairie School1
International Style1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Beulah, census by census
Between 552 and 3,363 people in every census since 1920.
11 censuses, 1920–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Beulah’s Wikipedia page.
Questions about Beulah’s history
What year was Beulah founded?
The Beulah post office opened in 1914, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Beulah rank for history?
Beulah is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns, #13 of 23 in North Dakota. 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.
What is on the National Register in Beulah?
One place: the Beulah School (listed 1997).
How old are the homes in Beulah?
7% of Beulah’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.9 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1981.
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (7), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.