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History · Fairdale

Fairdale’s post office opened in 1905, and 65% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1972 on, and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
65%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fairdale’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fairdale began

When was Fairdale founded?

1905

The Fairdale post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Kinloss (1886), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 140 in 19102020 census: 30121 years
Founding year: the first Fairdale post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fairdale’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 Fairdale’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 192 in 1920; 30 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fairdale’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fairdale’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 viewStanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex,…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Fairdale, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Fairdale yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Fairdale is a city in Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 30 at the 2020 census. Fairdale was founded in 1905.

Its first post office opened in 1905. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 38 to 30 (-21%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

People over time

Fairdale, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 192

Peaked at 192 in 1920; 30 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Timeline

Fairdale, 1886 to 1972

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1886Post officeThe Kinloss post office opens
  3. 1895Born hereGeorge A. Lundberg is born here
  4. 20th century
  5. 1905Post officeThe Kinloss post office closes
  6. 1905Post officeThe Fairdale post office opens
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 192
  8. 1972On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fairdale, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Nekoma, Cavalier County, NDDate?Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Nekoma, Caval…
Today2 recent
Post office in Fairdale, North Dakota 7-19-20092009Post office in Fairdale, North Dakota 7-19-2009NDMap-doton-Fairdale2004NDMap-doton-Fairdale
On the map

Fairdale on the map, 1972 to 1985

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

Fairdale on the 1972 USGS mapFairdale on the 1985 USGS map1972Fairdale 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 Fairdale.

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.

Stanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Nekoma, Cavalier County, ND
Retake this viewStanley R. Mickelsen Safeguard Complex, Nekoma, Cavalier County, ND

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fairdale’s post office has been open since 1905. Another post office, Kinloss, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Kinloss
1886–1905
Fairdale
1905–today
18801950today

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

Questions about Fairdale’s history

What year was Fairdale founded?

The Fairdale post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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), 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.