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History · Bowbells

Bowbells’ post office opened in 1898, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Burke County Courthouse. Below: maps from 1947 on and the census since 1910.

1898first post office
1on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Bowbells began

When was Bowbells founded?

1898

The Bowbells post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 651 in 19102020 census: 301128 years
Founding year: the first Bowbells post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Bowbells’ 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 Bowbells are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 806 in 1950; 301 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Bowbells’ homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Bowbells’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bowbells’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
People over time

Bowbells, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 806

Peaked at 806 in 1950; 301 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Bowbells came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Bowbells.

Read it all →

The city of Bowbells was founded in 1898 along the main line of the Soo Line Railroad and incorporated in 1906. The city was named by railroad officials after the famed Bow bells at St Mary-le-Bow in London, England. The Soo Line is now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway and runs diagonally from the southeast to the northwest heading toward Portal, North Dakota, where the railroad crosses into Saskatchewan. The Great Northern Railway built a branchline in the early 1900s on the east side of the city that runs south-north toward Northgate, North Dakota and Northgate, Saskatchewan that became a secondary mainline, currently operated by Canadian National Railway over trackage originally owned by BNSF.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Bowbells, 1898 to 1967

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Bowbells post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1920Born hereDoug Drew is born here
  5. 1947On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 806
  7. 1967Born hereLes Jepsen is born here
By decade

Bowbells, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111382008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211138Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111372008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211137Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111362008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211136Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111352008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211135Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111342008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211134Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111332008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211133Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111322008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211132Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111312008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211131Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111302008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211130Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111292008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211129Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111282008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211128Bowbells, North Dakota - P52111272008Bowbells, North Dakota - P5211127
On the map

Bowbells on the map, 1947 to 1950

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

Bowbells on the 1947 USGS mapBowbells on the 1950 USGS map1947Bowbells 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 Bowbells.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Bowbells

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
1985
Burke County Courthouse
Burke County Courthouse
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Federal1
Burke County CourthouseFederal

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Bowbells

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
L
Les JepsenAmerican basketball player · b. 1967
D
Doug DrewAmerican gridiron football player · b. 1920
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Bowbells TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMinnesota TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Bowbells’ history

What year was Bowbells founded?

The Bowbells post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Bowbells?

One place: the Burke County Courthouse (listed 1985).

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 (12), 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.