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History · Lincoln Township

Half of Lincoln Township’s homes were built after 1963

Most of Lincoln Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1963. Below: maps from 1939 on and the census since 1980.

0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

What stands out about Lincoln Township’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 Lincoln Township are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Lincoln Township, and 1 old place names are still on the map.Old housesHalf of Lincoln Township’s homes were built before 1963.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Lincoln Township’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Lincoln Township’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
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds

Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Alma
1880–1880
Bowesmont
1880–1983
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Bowesmont
Gone or out of use
Elliott Farms Airportairport
1cemetery inside Lincoln Township
Bowesmont

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

The story

How Lincoln Township came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Lincoln Township.

Read it all →

A Lincoln Township south of present-day Bismarck has been shown on maps dating back to 1872, when Edwinton – as Bismarck was originally known – was first platted. Efforts to formerly organize a township and city under the name of Lincoln have persisted, including one in 1965.

What is today considered the City of Lincoln was first established as a 300-acre, 492-lot housing development called Fort Lincoln Estates in 1972. It was originally considered part of Apple Creek Township. Billy Rippley was the principal developer. 24 homes were constructed by 1973.

Lincoln, along with eleven other sections of Apple Creek Township, entered the Bismarck Public School district through annexation in 1973.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Lincoln Township, 1880 to 1983

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Alma post office opens
  3. 1880Post officeThe Alma post office closes
  4. 1880Post officeThe Bowesmont post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1939On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1983Post officeThe Bowesmont post office closes
By decade

Lincoln Township, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Administrative building lincoln north dakota 20092009Administrative building lincoln north dakota 2009NDMap-doton-Lincoln2004NDMap-doton-Lincoln
On the map

Lincoln Township on the map, 1939 to 1971

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

Lincoln Township on the 1939 USGS mapLincoln Township on the 1941 USGS mapLincoln Township on the 1971 USGS map1939Drayton 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 Lincoln Township.

People over time

Lincoln Township, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,0004,5001980200020204,257

Grew from 656 people in 1980 to 4,257 in 2020, 6 times over.

5 censuses, 1980–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Lincoln Township

Nobody well known was born in Lincoln Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
R. G. FergusonCanadian physician · b. 1883
A
Austin BriggsCartoonist · b. 1908
E
Edward Kramer ThompsonAmerican writer · b. 1907
Truman SpangrudRetired lieutenant general in the United States… · b. 1934
Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Joliette TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDrayton TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMidland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Lincoln Township’s history

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 Wikimedia Commons (2), Wikipedia, 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.