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History · Fortuna

Fortuna’s post office opened in 1913, and 59% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1983 on and the census since 1920.

1913first post office
0on the National Register
59%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Fortuna began

When was Fortuna founded?

1913

The Fortuna post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Norge (1907), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 198 in 19202020 census: 30113 years
Founding year: the first Fortuna post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Fortuna’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 Fortuna are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Fortuna’s homes were built before 1938.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fortuna’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Fortuna, in brief

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

Fortuna is a city in Divide County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 30 at the 2020 census. Fortuna was founded in 1913 along a Soo Line Railroad branch line running between Flaxton, North Dakota and Whitetail, Montana. The name comes from the Roman goddess of fortune and was chosen by railroad officials to note the settlers' expectations of prosperity with the arrival of the railroad. The city is located six miles from the Canada–US border and is the northernmost city on U.S. Route 85 before it crosses into Canada at Port of Oungre, Saskatchewan. Fortuna has the latest sunset time several days after the summer solstice in the contiguous 48 states. The sun set at 10:03:24 PM …

Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 22 to 30 (+36%).

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

Timeline

Fortuna, 1907 to 1983

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Norge post office opens
  3. 1913Post officeThe Norge post office closes
  4. 1913Post officeThe Fortuna post office opens
  5. 1983On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Fortuna, decade by decade

Today12 recent
Fortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota 5-21-20082008Fortuna, North Dakota 5-21-2008Fortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota2008Fortuna, North DakotaFortuna, North Dakota (2008)2008Fortuna, North Dakota (2008)
On the map

Fortuna on the map in 1983

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fortuna.

Fortuna on the 1983 USGS map1983Fortuna 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 Fortuna.

People over time

Fortuna, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 216

Between 22 and 216 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Fortuna’s post office has been open since 1913. Another post office, Norge, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Norge
1907–1913
Fortuna
1913–today
19001960today

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

Questions about Fortuna’s history

What year was Fortuna founded?

The Fortuna post office opened in 1913, 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 →
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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 (12), 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.