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History · Fertile Township

Fertile Township’s post office opened in 1881, and 51% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on.

1881first post office
0on the National Register
51%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Fertile Township began

When was Fertile Township founded?

1881

The Fertile Township post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name. Three smaller post offices, Perry (1880), Fertile (1881) and Mandt (1893), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 187145 years
Founding year: the first Fertile Township post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fertile 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 writtenNo old photos of Fertile Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages3 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Fertile Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Fertile Township’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fertile Township’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Three other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Perry
1880–1883
Fertile
1881–1883
Mandt
1893–1904
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Mandt
Gone or out of use
Perrylocale
5cemeteries and burying grounds inside Fertile Township
ConcordiaKensingtonMennonite ChurchSouth Trinity LutheranZion

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

The story so far

Fertile Township, in brief

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

Fertile Township is a township in Walsh County, North Dakota, United States. 51.6% (127) of the population are male, and the other 48.4% (119) are female.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 250 to 187 (-25%).

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

Timeline

Fertile Township, 1880 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Perry post office opens
  3. 1881Post officeThe Fertile post office opens
  4. 1883Post officeThe Perry post office closes
  5. 1883Post officeThe Fertile post office closes
  6. 1893Post officeThe Mandt post office opens
  7. 20th century
  8. 1904Post officeThe Mandt post office closes
  9. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Fertile Township on the map, 1963 to 1985

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

Fertile Township on the 1963 USGS mapFertile Township on the 1985 USGS map1963Nash 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 Fertile Township.

Famous people

Famous people close to Fertile Township

Nobody well known was born in Fertile Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
F
Fern HeadleyAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1900
L
Lloyd OmdahlAmerican politician from North Dakota · b. 1931
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Kensington TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGrafton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGlenwood Township1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Fertile Township’s history

What year was Fertile Township founded?

The Fertile Township post office opened in 1881, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.