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History · Dazey

Dazey dates to 1883, and 73% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1908 on, and the census since 1910.

1883founded
0on the National Register
73%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Dazey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Dazey began

When was Dazey founded?

1883

Dazey dates its founding to 1883 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 265 in 19102020 census: 78143 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1884.The full story ↓

What stands out about Dazey’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.Old housesHalf of Dazey’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dazey’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGrand Forks Air Force Base Painted Mura…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Dazey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Dazey.

Read it all →

Dazey was founded in 1883 and named for Charles Turner Dazey, who moved there from Illinois to run a bonanza farm in the early 1880s. Mr. Dazey donated the land to start the townsite. Mr. Dazey later moved back to Illinois where he became a successful playwright. It was incorporated as a village in 1904, and reached a peak population of 293 in 1920. It became a city in 1967, after the North Dakota Legislature enacted legislation that eliminated all existing incorporation titles for towns and villages in the state.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Dazey, 1883 to 1961

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883
    FoundingDazey is established
  3. 1884Post officeThe Dazey post office opens
  4. 20th century
  5. 1961On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Dazey, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Grand Forks Air Force Base Painted Murals, Missile Alert Facility November-Zero, Grand Forks, Grand Forks County, NDDate?Grand Forks Air Force Base Painted Murals, Missile Al…
Today2 recent
Dazey North Dakota 8-10-20082008Dazey North Dakota 8-10-2008NDMap-doton-Dazey2004NDMap-doton-Dazey
On the map

Dazey on the map, 1961 to 1985

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

Dazey on the 1961 USGS mapDazey on the 1985 USGS map1961Dazey 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 Dazey.

Every building

Dazey, building by building, 1908–1918

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.

Dazey fire insurance map, 1908, sheet 11908Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

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.

Grand Forks Air Force Base Painted Murals, Missile Alert Facility November-Zero, Grand Forks, Grand Forks County, ND
Retake this viewGrand Forks Air Force Base Painted Murals, Missile Alert Facility November-Zero, Grand Forks, Grand Forks County, ND

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Dazey, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 293

Between 78 and 293 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Questions about Dazey’s history

What year was Dazey founded?

In 1883, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Dazey’s post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1910 counted 265 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 (2), the Library of Congress (1), Wikipedia, 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.