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History · Martin

Martin’s post office opened in 1902, and 34% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1940 on and the census since 1920.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
34%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Martin began

When was Martin founded?

1902

The Martin post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Casselman (1898), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 198 in 19202020 census: 63124 years
Founding year: the first Martin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Martin’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 Martin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 228 in 1940; 63 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Martin’s homes were built before 1948.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Martin’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Martin, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 228

Peaked at 228 in 1940; 63 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story so far

Martin, in brief

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

Martin is a city in Sheridan County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 63 at the 2020 census.

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 78 to 63 (-19%).

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

Timeline

Martin, 1898 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Casselman post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1902Post officeThe Casselman post office closes
  5. 1902Post officeThe Martin post office opens
  6. 1940On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1940CensusPopulation peaks at 228
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Martin on the map, 1940 to 1986

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

Martin on the 1940 USGS mapMartin on the 1951 USGS mapMartin on the 1986 USGS map1940Aylmer 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 Martin.

Famous people

Famous people close to Martin

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

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
E
Elmer EllisAmerican University president · b. 1901
J
Jim PedersonAmerican football player · b. 1907
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Martin’s post office has been open since 1902. Another post office, Casselman, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Casselman
1898–1902
Martin
1902–today
18901960today
Gone or out of use
Martin Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Martin’s history

What year was Martin founded?

The Martin post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 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.