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History · Max

Max’s post office opened in 1904, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1954 on, and the census since 1910.

1904first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Max’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Max began

When was Max founded?

1904

The Max post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1906.

First census: 285 in 19102020 census: 331122 years
Founding year: the first Max post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1906.The full story ↓

What stands out about Max’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 500 in 1930; 331 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Max’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Max’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 viewMax, North Dakota: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Max, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 500

Peaked at 500 in 1930; 331 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Max came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Max.

Read it all →

Before 1906, rumors were circulating that the Soo Line would lay track close to Elbow Lake, north of Garrison, to obtain water for their steam engines. On this prospect, enterprising businessmen swiftly began staking claims in anticipation of purchasing prime real estate in a new town. A haphazard shack-building boom ensued on the surrounding ambling prairies. On August 8, 1906, a surveyor named J.G. Sheldrick filed a certificate to plat what would become the Max townsite on a grid.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Max, 1904 to 1954

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Max post office opens
  3. 1914Born hereEdward Arthur Steinhaus is born here
  4. 1917Born hereRoland J. Barnick is born here
  5. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 500
  6. 1940In the archiveMax, North Dakota
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Max, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s3 items
Max, North Dakota1940Max, North DakotaMax, North Dakota. Population 5001940Max, North Dakota. Population 500Untitled photo, possibly related to: Max, North Dakota. Population 5001940Untitled photo, possibly related to: Max, North Dakot…
1950s–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
On the map

Max on the map, 1954 to 1980

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

Max on the 1954 USGS mapMax on the 1977 USGS mapMax on the 1980 USGS map1954McClusky sheet · 1:250,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Max.

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.

Max, North Dakota
Retake this viewMax, North Dakota, 1940

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Max

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
E
Edward Arthur SteinhausAmerican insect pathologist · b. 1914
R
Roland J. BarnickUnited States Air Force general · b. 1917

Questions about Max’s history

What year was Max founded?

The Max post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1906.

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 the Library of Congress (3), Wikipedia, 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.