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History · Casselton Township

Casselton Township dates to 1876, and 100% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 18 old photos and papers, maps from 1895 on, and the census since 1880.

1876founded
0on the National Register
100%homes built before 1940
18old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Casselton Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Casselton Township began

When was Casselton Township founded?

1876

Casselton Township dates its founding to 1876 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 360 in 18802020 census: 81150 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1882.The full story ↓

What stands out about Casselton Township’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

On the map since 18953 editions of the USGS map, 1895 to 1986. Watch Casselton Township change.A town in old photos18 old photos, postcards and papers, 1877–1940.
★ What stands out · On the map

Casselton Township on the map, 1895 to 1986

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

Casselton Township on the 1895 USGS mapCasselton Township on the 1961 USGS mapCasselton Township on the 1986 USGS map1895Casselton sheet · 1:125,000

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

By decade

Casselton Township, decade by decade

5 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1870s–1890s5 items
MarshSelfBinderDTHaynes18771877MarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877Casselton, North Dakota, business district1890Casselton, North Dakota, business districtCasselton, North Dakota, business district1890Casselton, North Dakota, business districtCasselton, North Dakota, business district1890Casselton, North Dakota, business districtBusiness men’s baseball game near Casselton, N.D. area, 18951895Business men’s baseball game near Casselton, N.D. are…
1900s8 items
St. Stephen's Church1908St. Stephen's ChurchThird Ward School1908Third Ward SchoolFront St. looking west1908Front St. looking westFront St. looking east1908Front St. looking eastN.P. [Northern Pacific] Passenger Depot1908N.P. [Northern Pacific] Passenger DepotPart of business district, Front St1908Part of business district, Front StN.P. [Northern Pacific] Passenger Depot1908N.P. [Northern Pacific] Passenger DepotBirds eye view of Casselton, N.D1908Birds eye view of Casselton, N.D
1920s–1940s5 items
Threshing scene on farm of John B. Siemer1920Threshing scene on farm of John B. SiemerCutting meats before freezing. Co-op cold storage lockers. Casselton, North Dakota1940Cutting meats before freezing. Co-op cold storage loc…Stamping cut of meat before removing to freezing room. Cold storage locker1940Stamping cut of meat before removing to freezing room…Wrapping up a roast from cold storage locker for farmer to take home. Casselton, North Dakota1940Wrapping up a roast from cold storage locker for farm…Wrapping up cuts of meat which will be put in freezing room, cold storage lockers. Casselton, North Dakota1940Wrapping up cuts of meat which will be put in freezin…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
The story

How Casselton Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Casselton Township.

Read it all →

Casselton was founded on August 8, 1876. The city is named in honor of George Washington Cass, a president of the Northern Pacific Railway, which established a station there in 1876 to develop a town for homesteaders. Casselton is the hometown of five North Dakota governors. Casselton was incorporated as a village on July 23, 1880 and as a city in 1883.

Casselton had its origin in 1873 when the Northern Pacific Railway sent Mike Smith to plant cottonwood and willow trees in the area to serve as windbreaks along the right-of-way. They planned to harvest the trees for lumber to use as railroad ties, but the experiment failed for a number of reasons.

Chapters2013 train derailment

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Casselton Township, 1876 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876
    FoundingCasselton Township is established
  3. 1877In the archiveMarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877
  4. 1882Post officeThe Sidney post office opens
  5. 1883Post officeThe Sidney post office closes
  6. 1890In the archiveCasselton, North Dakota, business district
  7. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 20th century
  9. 1908In the archiveSt. Stephen's Church
  10. 1920In the archiveThreshing scene on farm of John B. Siemer
  11. 1940In the archiveCutting meats before freezing. Co-op cold storage lockers. Casselton, North Dakota
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

MarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877
Retake this viewMarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877, 1877

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Casselton Township’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Casselton Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500188019001920194019601980200020202,479

Grew from 360 people in 1880 to 2,479 in 2020, 6 times over.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Another post office, Sidney, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Sidneylocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Help out

Finish Casselton Township’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
3 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Casselton2 historic placesB+Wheatland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHarmony TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townEverest TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRush River TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAmenia TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Casselton Township’s history

What year was Casselton Township founded?

In 1876, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Casselton Township’s post office opened in 1882, and the census of 1880 counted 360 people here.

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 (4), the Library of Congress (14), Wikipedia, 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.