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BHistory
History · Harvey

Harvey’s post office opened in 1893, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Harvey Power Plant and the Harvey High School. Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1904 on, and the census since 1910.

1893first post office
2on the National Register
17%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
5famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harvey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harvey began

When was Harvey founded?

1893

The Harvey post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1906. Another post office, Whitby (1890), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,443 in 19102020 census: 1,650133 years

How historic is Harvey?

B

More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Harvey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.
History grade

What drives Harvey’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Harvey is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Harvey’s overall grade.
Founding era1893, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194016.9% of homes (±6.1) · typical ND town 7.2% · U.S. 8.4%BNational Register2 listings, 11.9 per 10,000 residents · typical ND town 2.8 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 58%
NewerOlder

North Dakota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical North Dakota town has 2.8 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Harvey’s 11.9 sits near the middle of its state (65% of North Dakota towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to B+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.1 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1906.

Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about Harvey’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,527 in 1980; 1,650 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1904 to 1926, drew every building in Harvey.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers.
★ What stands out · People over time

Harvey, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,527

Peaked at 2,527 in 1980; 1,650 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Harvey, building by building, 1904–1926

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Harvey fire insurance map, 1904, sheet 11904Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Harvey, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1900s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s12 items
North Main Street1909North Main StreetMain Street, looking north1909Main Street, looking northViaduct1909ViaductPump station1909Pump stationCity park1909City parkHigh School1909High SchoolHigh School1909High SchoolSoo Depot1909Soo DepotCooke Hotel1909Cooke HotelMain Street1909Main StreetSheyenne River Dam1909Sheyenne River DamSheyenne River Bridge1909Sheyenne River Bridge
1910s–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
The story so far

Harvey, in brief

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

Harvey is a city in Wells County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2020 census. Harvey was founded in 1893 as a division point by the Soo Line Railway. Harvey is believed to have been named for a director of the Soo Line Railway, Col. Scott William Harvey of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 1,783 to 1,650 (-7%).

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

Timeline

Harvey, 1890 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Whitby post office opens
  3. 1893Post officeThe Whitby post office closes
  4. 1893Post officeThe Harvey post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1909In the archiveNorth Main Street
  7. 1927Born hereJud Heathcote is born here
  8. 1929Born hereMichael Forest is born here
  9. 1930BuiltHarvey Power Plant is built
  10. 1932Born hereJohn T. Davies is born here
  11. 1941Born hereLeonard R. Brand is born here
  12. 1941On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  13. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,527
On the map

Harvey on the map, 1941 to 1986

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

Harvey on the 1941 USGS mapHarvey on the 1951 USGS mapHarvey on the 1986 USGS map1941Selz sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Harvey.

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.

North Main Street
Retake this viewNorth Main Street, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Harvey

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
2020
Harvey Power Plant
Harvey Power Plant, built 1930Harvey High School
Buildings
All 2 listings
Harvey Power PlantBuilding · listed 2020Harvey High SchoolBuilding · listed 2026

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

5 famous people were born in Harvey

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Michael ForestActor · b. 1929
J
Jud HeathcoteAmerican basketball player and coach · b. 1927
J
John T. DaviesAmerican politician in Minnesota · b. 1932
L
Leonard R. BrandAmerican scientist · b. 1941
J
Jim PedersonAmerican football player · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices

Harvey’s post office has been open since 1893. Another post office, Whitby, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Whitby
1890–1893
Harvey
1893–today
18901960today

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

Help out

Finish Harvey’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewNorth Main Street: 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.

Wells TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHillsdale TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townForward TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Harvey’s history

What year was Harvey founded?

The Harvey post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.

How does Harvey rank for history?

Harvey is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in Harvey?

Two places: the Harvey Power Plant (listed 2020) and the Harvey High School (2026).

How old are the homes in Harvey?

17% of Harvey’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.1 points), against a typical 7.2% for a North Dakota town; the median home was built in 1969.

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).

From the Library of Congress (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.