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History · Marmarth

Marmarth dates to 1907, and 62% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Mystic Theatre. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1980 on, and the census since 1910.

1907founded
1on the National Register
62%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Marmarth’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Marmarth began, and where its name came from

When was Marmarth founded?

1907

Marmarth dates its founding to 1907 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1910.

First census: 790 in 19102020 census: 101119 years

How did Marmarth get its name?

The name comes from a combination of letters in the first and middle names of Margaret Martha Finch, granddaughter of Albert J. Earling, president of the railroad at the time.

Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1907. Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Marmarth’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 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Marmarth’s homes were built before 1938.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,318 in 1920; 101 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Marmarth’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewMarmarth, N.D., 1914: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Marmarth came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Marmarth.

Read it all →

The area was originally inhabited by the Lakota- and Crow peoples, which may have been part of the 9th–12th centuries BCE Mound Builders civilization.

On September 2, 1864, Captain James L. Fisk of the Union Army was leading 200 gold-seekers in eighty-eight wagons from North Dakota to Montana. By the Deep Creek, approximately twelve miles east of today's Marmarth, the group was attacked by over a hundred Hunkpapa Sioux Indians led by the chief Sitting Bull. Sitting Bull was wounded, but saved by Jumping Bull and White Bull, while six Hunkpapas, ten soldiers, and two civilians were killed in the battle. The Site of Fort Dilts has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1980.

ChaptersNative American historyTheodore RooseveltHomesteadingFossil findings

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

People over time

Marmarth, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,318

Peaked at 1,318 in 1920; 101 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Timeline

Marmarth, 1907 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907
    FoundingMarmarth is established
  3. 1907Post officeThe Neva post office opens
  4. 1908Post officeThe Neva post office closes
  5. 1908Post officeThe Marmarth post office opens
  6. 1914In the archiveMarmarth, N.D., 1914
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,318
  8. 1974Post officeThe Marmarth post office closes
  9. 1980On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Marmarth, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s3 items
Marmarth, N.D., 19141914Marmarth, N.D., 1914Marmarth, N.D., 19141914Marmarth, N.D., 1914The Harrison House in1915The Harrison House in
1920s–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
Today9 recent
Marmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, North Dakota2007Marmarth, North DakotaMarmarth, ND2007Marmarth, ND
On the map

Marmarth on the map, 1980 to 1997

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

Marmarth on the 1980 USGS mapMarmarth on the 1997 USGS map1980Marmarth 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 Marmarth.

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.

Marmarth, N.D., 1914
Retake this viewMarmarth, N.D., 1914, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Marmarth

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
1977
Mystic Theatre
Mystic Theatre
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Art Nouveau1
Mystic TheatreArt Nouveau

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Marmarth had its own post office from 1908 to 1974. Another post office, Neva, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Neva
1907–1908
Marmarth
1908–1974
19001960today
Gone or out of use
Marmarth Post Officepost office

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

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

Questions about Marmarth’s history

What year was Marmarth founded?

In 1907, according to Wikidata. Marmarth’s post office opened in 1907, and the census of 1910 counted 790 people here.

What is on the National Register in Marmarth?

One place: the Mystic Theatre (listed 1977).

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 (11), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.