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History · Rutland

Rutland’s post office opened in 1887, and 47% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1958 on and the census since 1910.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
47%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Rutland began

When was Rutland founded?

1887

The Rutland post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 224 in 19102020 census: 163139 years
Founding year: the first Rutland post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Rutland’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 Rutland are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 309 in 1950; 163 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Rutland’s homes were built before 1943.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Rutland’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Rutland’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
People over time

Rutland, census by census

0100200300192019401960198020002020Peak: 309

Peaked at 309 in 1950; 163 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story so far

Rutland, in brief

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

Rutland is a city in Sargent County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 163 at the 2020 census. Rutland was founded in 1887.

Its first post office opened in 1887. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 163 in 2010, 163 in 2020.

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

Timeline

Rutland, 1887 to 1958

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Rutland post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1950CensusPopulation peaks at 309
  5. 1958On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Rutland, decade by decade

Today3 recent
World's Largest Hamburger2014World's Largest HamburgerMain Street2014Main StreetGrain Elevator2014Grain Elevator
On the map

Rutland on the map, 1958 to 1986

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

Rutland on the 1958 USGS mapRutland on the 1986 USGS map1958Rutland 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 Rutland.

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Rutland TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townRansom TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Rutland’s history

What year was Rutland founded?

The Rutland post office opened in 1887, 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 (3), 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.