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History · Grenora

Grenora dates to 1916, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1948 on, and the census since 1920.

1916founded
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Grenora’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Grenora began

When was Grenora founded?

1916

Grenora dates its founding to 1916 (Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history agree). The census first counted it in 1920.

First census: 358 in 19202020 census: 221110 years
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1906.

What stands out about Grenora’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Boom and bustPeaked at 525 in 1950; 221 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Grenora’s homes were built before 1959.
★ What stands out · People over time

Grenora, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 525

Peaked at 525 in 1950; 221 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Grenora, in brief

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

Grenora is a city in Williams County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 221 at the 2020 census. Grenora was founded in July 1916 at the terminus of a Great Northern Railway branch line that began in Stanley. The name is a portmanteau of letters in the railway's name: GREat NOrthern RAilway. The tracks were in place until 2002, when Great Northern successor BNSF Railway filed for abandonment. The city's motto is, "Friendliness lives here – you're only a stranger once." The city is home to a senior citizen's center, credit union, gas station, grain elevator, restaurant, bar, apartment buildings, and community-built low-income housing. There are also two churches: the St. Olaf Lu…

Grenora was established in 1916. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 244 to 221 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Grenora, 1906 to 1950

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1906Post officeThe Howard post office opens
  3. 1916
    FoundingGrenora is established
  4. 1917Post officeThe Howard post office closes
  5. 1917Post officeThe Grenora post office opens
  6. 1935In the archiveUntitled
  7. 1941In the archiveCooperative gasoline station
  8. 1948On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 525
By decade

Grenora, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s–1940s8 items
Untitled1935UntitledUntitled1935UntitledUntitled1935UntitledUntitled1935UntitledCooperative gasoline station1941Cooperative gasoline stationWheat fields on farm north of Williston, near Grenora, North Dakota1941Wheat fields on farm north of Williston, near Grenora…Stacks of wheat harvested with a binder north of Williston, near Grenora, North Dakota1941Stacks of wheat harvested with a binder north of Will…Farmer taking wheat which was harvested with a combine, to the grain storage elevator. Near Grenora, North Dakota1941Farmer taking wheat which was harvested with a combin…
1950s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today2 recent
Grenora ND2022Grenora NDGrenora, North Dakota2009Grenora, North Dakota
On the map

Grenora on the map, 1948 to 1984

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

Grenora on the 1948 USGS mapGrenora on the 1984 USGS map1948Grenora 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 Grenora.

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.

Untitled
Retake this viewUntitled, 1935

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Grenora’s post office has been open since 1917. Another post office, Howard, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Howard
1906–1917
Grenora
1917–today
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Grendra Airfieldairport
1cemetery inside Grenora
Grenora

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

Help out

Finish Grenora’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewUntitled: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Grenora TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Grenora’s history

What year was Grenora founded?

In 1916, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Grenora’s post office opened in 1906, and the census of 1920 counted 358 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 (8), 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.