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History · Maxbass

Maxbass’ post office opened in 1905, and 33% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1949 on and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
33%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Maxbass began

When was Maxbass founded?

1905

The Maxbass post office opened in 1905, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 240 in 19102020 census: 89121 years
Founding year: the first Maxbass post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Maxbass’ 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 Maxbass are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Maxbass’ homes were built before 1946.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Maxbass’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Maxbass’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
The story

How Maxbass came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Maxbass.

Read it all →

The city was named after Max Bass who figured prominently in the Great Northern Railway's immigration and land settlement activities for many years before and after 1900. Bass was born in Austria in 1853 and served as land commissioner Dakota Territory from 1885 to 1901. In March 1891, he was appointed General Immigration Agent for the Great Northern Railway with headquarters in Chicago and remained with the railroad until his death in 1909.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Maxbass, 1905 to 1949

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1905Post officeThe Maxbass post office opens
  3. 1916Born herePhillip O. Foss is born here
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Maxbass, decade by decade

Today2 recent
Maxbass Rural Fire District - Maxbass, North Dakota 5-23-20082008Maxbass Rural Fire District - Maxbass, North Dakota 5…NDMap-doton-Maxbass2004NDMap-doton-Maxbass
On the map

Maxbass on the map, 1949 to 1971

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

Maxbass on the 1949 USGS mapMaxbass on the 1954 USGS mapMaxbass on the 1971 USGS map1949Maxbass 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 Maxbass.

People over time

Maxbass, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 259

Between 84 and 259 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Hastings TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townLewis TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Maxbass’ history

What year was Maxbass founded?

The Maxbass post office opened in 1905, 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 Wikimedia Commons (2), 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.