Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Cavalier Township

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 · Cavalier Township

Cavalier Township dates to 1875, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1939 on, and the census since 1900.

1875founded
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Cavalier Township’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Cavalier Township began

When was Cavalier Township founded?

1875

Cavalier Township dates its founding to 1875 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1900.

First census: 671 in 19002020 census: 540151 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓

What stands out about Cavalier Township’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Cavalier Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPembina County Courthouse: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Cavalier Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Cavalier Township.

Read it all →

Cavalier was laid out in 1875 on open land. The city was named for Charles Cavileer, an early settler in Pembina County (a recording error accounts for the error in spelling, which was never corrected). A post office has been in operation at Cavalier since 1877. Cavalier was incorporated in 1902.

In the early 1970s, the city of Cavalier's population quadrupled in size due to the U.S.' anti-ballistic missile program. This was in preparation of a nuclear attack on the U.S. during the Cold War with the Soviet Union.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Cavalier Township, 1875 to 1939

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1875
    FoundingCavalier Township is established
  3. 1881Post officeThe Tyner post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1912In the archivePembina County Courthouse
  6. 1912Post officeThe Tyner post office closes
  7. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Cavalier Township, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Pembina County Courthousec. 1912Pembina County Courthouse
1920s–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
Today28 recent
Cavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota2007Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier, North Dakota (2007)2007Cavalier, North Dakota (2007)Wayne's V&S Variety Stores2001Wayne's V&S Variety StoresSporting Goods2001Sporting GoodsNew Movie2001New MovieDowntown2001DowntownCavalier, North Dakota2001Cavalier, North DakotaCavalier Theater2001Cavalier Theater
On the map

Cavalier Township on the map, 1939 to 1964

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

Cavalier Township on the 1939 USGS mapCavalier Township on the 1941 USGS mapCavalier Township on the 1964 USGS map1939Cavalier 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 Cavalier Township.

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.

Pembina County Courthouse
Retake this viewPembina County Courthouse, c. 1912

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Cavalier Township, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,537

Between 652 and 1,537 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

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

Gone or out of use
Backoo FieldairportTynerlocale
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Cavalier Township
CavalierSaint Brigid of Ireland CatholicTongue RiverTynerZion

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Akra Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHamilton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLodema TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townAdvance TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFelson TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Cavalier Township’s history

What year was Cavalier Township founded?

In 1875, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Cavalier Township’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1900 counted 671 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 (29), 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.