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History · Blanchard

Blanchard’s post office opened in 1880

Below: maps from 1918 on.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
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Photo: The original uploader was Chicago103 at English Wikipedia.; original photo by afiler · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Blanchard began

When was Blanchard founded?

1880

The Blanchard post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1881.

2020 census: 16146 years
Founding year: the first Blanchard post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1881.

What stands out about Blanchard’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 Blanchard are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 19183 editions of the USGS map, 1918 to 1967. Watch Blanchard change.
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Start Blanchard’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blanchard’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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On the map

Blanchard on the map, 1918 to 1967

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

Blanchard on the 1918 USGS mapBlanchard on the 1943 USGS mapBlanchard on the 1967 USGS map1918Kelso sheet · 1:62,500

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

The story so far

Blanchard, in brief

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

Blanchard is a census-designated place in Blanchard Township, Traill County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 16 at the 2020 census. Blanchard is near the North Dakota-Minnesota border, near the junction of state highways 18 and 200. The KVLY-TV mast was the tallest man-made structure in the Western Hemisphere until 2019. It stands near Blanchard. The mast is used to transmit television broadcasts from the Fargo station KVLY-TV and was the tallest man-made structure in the world from 1963 to 1974 and again from 1991 to 2008. Similarly, the KRDK-TV mast, the tallest man-made structure in the United States, stands 6 miles (9.7 km) from Blanchard, near Galesburg.

Its first post office opened in 1880. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 26 to 16 (-38%).

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

By decade

Blanchard, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Blanchard2013BlanchardBlanchardND2006BlanchardNDBlanchard, North Dakota2006Blanchard, North DakotaBlanchard Bridge, North Dakota2006Blanchard Bridge, North Dakota

Questions about Blanchard’s history

What year was Blanchard founded?

The Blanchard post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1881.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

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