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History · Frontier

Frontier dates to 1976

Most of Frontier was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1978. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 1980.

1976founded
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Frontier began

When was Frontier founded?

1976

Frontier dates its founding to 1976 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1980.

First census: 160 in 19802020 census: 19550 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year.

What stands out about Frontier’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 Frontier are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 273 in 2000; 195 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Frontier’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Frontier’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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People over time

Frontier, census by census

0100200300198020002020Peak: 273

Peaked at 273 in 2000; 195 people lived here in 2020.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

The story so far

Frontier, in brief

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

Frontier is a city in Cass County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 195 at the 2020 census. Frontier is located south of the city of Fargo and is located roughly six miles southwest of that city's downtown. Frontier was founded in 1976. Since Frontier's founding, the adjacent city of Fargo has grown to the point where it almost completely encompasses Frontier's city limits. Only a small gap on the city's southwest corner keeps Frontier from being a complete enclave community within Fargo's border.

Frontier was established in 1976. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 214 to 195 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Frontier, 1959 to 2000

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1959On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  3. 1976
    FoundingFrontier is established
  4. 21st century
  5. 2000CensusPopulation peaks at 273
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.

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On the map

Frontier on the map, 1959 to 1993

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

Frontier on the 1959 USGS mapFrontier on the 1971 USGS mapFrontier on the 1993 USGS map1959Fargo South 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 Frontier.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Stanley TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townFargo30 historic placesB

Questions about Frontier’s history

What year was Frontier founded?

In 1976, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. the census of 1980 counted 160 people here.

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) 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.