Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Blacktail

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Blacktail

14% of Blacktail’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1974 on.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Blacktail’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blacktail’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Blacktail, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blacktail yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Blacktail is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) built around Blacktail Lake in Williams County, North Dakota, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Blacktail had a population of 61. The CDP is in northwestern Williams County, in the north-central part of Blacktail Township. It consists of residences built on the shore of Blacktail Lake, a small reservoir built on Blacktail Creek, a southeast-flowing tributary of the Little Muddy River, which flows south to the Missouri River at Williston, 25 miles (40 km) south of Blacktail.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

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.
Add from your album
On the map

Blacktail on the map, 1974 to 1983

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

Blacktail on the 1974 USGS mapBlacktail on the 1983 USGS map1974Blacktail Lake 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 Blacktail.

Famous people

Famous people close to Blacktail

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

See all →
M
Michael GoldadeAmerican Traditionalist Catholic bishop · b. 1980
Darlene HooleyAmerican politician · b. 1939
Sally FraserAmerican actress · b. 1932
Brian QvaleAmerican basketball player · b. 1988
James Alan AbrahamsonUnited States Air Force general · b. 1933
Julie FedorchakAmerican politician · b. 1968

Questions about Blacktail’s history

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.