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History · Hope

Hope’s post office opened in 1881, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Baldwin's Arcade. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1968 on, and the census since 1890.

1881first post office
1on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hope’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hope began

When was Hope founded?

1881

The Hope post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 238 in 18902020 census: 272145 years
Founding year: the first Hope post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hope’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 909 in 1910; 272 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Hope’s homes were built before 1962.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hope’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewThe Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hope, census by census

02004006008001,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 909

Peaked at 909 in 1910; 272 people lived here in 2020.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

The story so far

Hope, in brief

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

Hope is a city in Steele County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 272 at the 2020 census. Hope was founded in 1881.

Its first post office opened in 1881. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 258 to 272 (+5%).

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

Timeline

Hope, 1866 to 1968

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866In the archiveThe Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (Dakota Territory), the end of the Manatoba (Manito…
  3. 1881Post officeThe Hope post office opens
  4. 1898Born hereThornton Freeland is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910CensusPopulation peaks at 909
  7. 1968On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hope, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1860s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1860s1 item
The Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (Dakota Territory), the end of the Manatoba (Manitoba) west branch in August 1882…1866–1920The Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (Dakota Territo…
Today11 recent
Hope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope, North Dakota2009Hope, North DakotaHope2009Hope
On the map

Hope on the map, 1968 to 1985

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

Hope on the 1968 USGS mapHope on the 1985 USGS map1968Hope 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 Hope.

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.

The Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (Dakota Territory), the end of the Manatoba (Manitoba) west branch in August 1882…
Retake this viewThe Grand Central Hotel at Hope, D.T. (Dakota Territory), the end of the Manatoba (Manitoba) west branch in August 1882…, 1866–1920

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hope

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1975
Baldwin's Arcade
Baldwin's Arcade
Buildings
Baldwin's ArcadeBuilding

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Hope’s history

What year was Hope founded?

The Hope post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hope?

One place: the Baldwin's Arcade (listed 1975).

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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) 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.