Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Lignite

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Lignite

Lignite’s post office opened in 1894, and 11% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1920.

1894first post office
0on the National Register
11%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Lignite began

When was Lignite founded?

1894

The Lignite post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1907.

First census: 214 in 19202020 census: 141132 years
Founding year: the first Lignite post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1907.

What stands out about Lignite’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 Lignite are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 355 in 1960; 141 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lignite’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Lignite, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 355

Peaked at 355 in 1960; 141 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Lignite, in brief

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

Lignite is a city in Burke County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 141 at the 2020 census. Lignite was founded in 1907 and was named for the quantities of lignite, a low-grade coal, present in the area.

Its first post office opened in 1894. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 155 to 141 (-9%).

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

Timeline

Lignite, 1894 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1894Post officeThe Lignite post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 355
By decade

Lignite, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Main St2026Main StRapeseed2021RapeseedLignite ND water tower2021Lignite ND water towerNDMap-doton-Lignite2004NDMap-doton-Lignite
On the map

Lignite on the map, 1949 to 1950

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

Lignite on the 1949 USGS mapLignite on the 1950 USGS map1949Portal 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 Lignite.

Questions about Lignite’s history

What year was Lignite founded?

The Lignite post office opened in 1894, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1907.

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 (4), 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.