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–Not graded
History · Regan

Regan’s post office opened in 1911, and 32% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1979 on and the census since 1920.

1911first post office
0on the National Register
32%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Andrew Filer from Seattle (ex-Minneapolis) · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Regan began

When was Regan founded?

1911

The Regan post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1912.

First census: 202 in 19202020 census: 35115 years
Founding year: the first Regan post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1912.The full story ↓

What stands out about Regan’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 Regan are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Regan’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Regan’s collection

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

How Regan came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Regan.

Read it all →

Regan was established after the Northern Pacific Railway built a line through the area in 1912. The settlement was named for J. Austin Regan, a land company official who had platted the townsite in 1911. A post office and a church opened in 1912, and a newspaper, The Regan Headlight, was established in 1913. The Regan School opened in 1914 in a building previously used as a barbershop. The early town had two banks, a lumber yard, a blacksmith shop, a butcher shop, and a hotel. A telephone company was established in 1915, and Regan was incorporated as a village in 1916. An automobile garage opened in 1917.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Regan, decade by decade

Today16 recent
US Post office Regan, North Dakota 6-13-20082008US Post office Regan, North Dakota 6-13-2008Regan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaRegan, North Dakota2008Regan, North DakotaNDMap-doton-Regan2004NDMap-doton-Regan
On the map

Regan on the map in 1979

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Regan.

Regan on the 1979 USGS map1979Regan 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 Regan.

People over time

Regan, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 202

Between 35 and 202 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Estherville TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGhylin TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Regan’s history

What year was Regan founded?

The Regan post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1912.

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 (16), 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.