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B+History
History · Casselton

Casselton’s post office opened in 1876, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns. What drives it

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 16 buildings. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1893 on, and the census since 1880.

1876first post office
2on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
4famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Casselton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Casselton began

When was Casselton founded?

1876

The Casselton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 360 in 18802020 census: 2,479150 years

How historic is Casselton?

B+

More historic than 74% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Casselton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Casselton’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Casselton is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Casselton’s overall grade.
Founding era1876, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.9% of homes (±6.2) · typical ND town 7.2% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 17 historic buildings, 57.6 per 10,000 residents · typical ND town 2.8 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 74%
NewerOlder

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 Casselton’s 57.6 sits above most of its state (91% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 17 historic buildings outnumber those of 79% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.2 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 Casselton’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 change.Mapped building by building5 fire insurance maps, 1893 to 1917, drew every building in Casselton.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1877–1908.
★ What stands out · On the map

Casselton on the map, 1895 to 1986

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

Casselton on the 1895 USGS mapCasselton on the 1961 USGS mapCasselton 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.

Every building

Casselton, building by building, 1893–1917

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Casselton fire insurance map, 1893, sheet 11893Sheet 1 of 4
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Casselton, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1870s to the 1900s. 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…
1900s7 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 Depot
1910s–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 came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Casselton.

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, 1876 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1876Post officeThe Casselton post office opens
  3. 1877In the archiveMarshSelfBinderDTHaynes1877
  4. 1886Born hereWilliam Langer is born here
  5. 1890In the archiveCasselton, North Dakota, business district
  6. 1895On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1899Born hereJohn H. Lang is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1908In the archiveSt. Stephen's Church
  10. 1935Born hereBill Pietsch is born here
  11. 1939Born hereDwayne A. King is born here
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’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 17 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
17
each building in a district counts
first listed
1982
Casselton Commercial Historic District
Casselton Commercial Historic DistrictSt. Stephen's Episcopal Church
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Vernacular1
Victorian Gothic1
Neo-Classical1
Classical Revival1
Gothic Revival1
Casselton Commercial Historic DistrictVernacular
St. Stephen's Episcopal ChurchGothic Revival

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

People over time

Casselton, 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’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

4 famous people were born in Casselton

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

See all →
William LangerAmerican politician · b. 1886
J
John H. LangAmerican military officer (1899–1970) ; recipie… · b. 1899
B
Bill PietschAmerican businessman and politician · b. 1935
D
Dwayne A. KingAmerican politician – Minnesota -House 1977-78 … · b. 1939
Places that used to be

Places now gone and burying grounds

Casselton’s post office has been open since 1876.

Gone or out of use
Ellison Public Schoolschool
2cemeteries and burying grounds inside Casselton
CasseltonSaint Leo's

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

Help out

Finish Casselton’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 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.

Everest TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townCasselton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Casselton’s history

What year was Casselton founded?

The Casselton post office opened in 1876, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Casselton rank for history?

Casselton is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns. 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 Casselton?

Two places: the Casselton Commercial Historic District (listed 1982) and the St. Stephen's Episcopal Church (1992).

How old are the homes in Casselton?

20% of Casselton’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.2 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1979.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (8), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.