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History · Sarles

Sarles’ post office opened in 1905, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1953 on and the census since 1910.

1905first post office
0on the National Register
13%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 Sarles began

When was Sarles founded?

1905

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

First census: 346 in 19102020 census: 16121 years
Founding year: the first Sarles post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sarles’ 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 Sarles are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sarles’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sarles’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 so far

Sarles, in brief

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

Sarles is a city in Cavalier and Towner counties in the State of North Dakota. The population was 16 at the 2020 census. Sarles was founded in 1905 at the end of the Great Northern railway extension north of Munich, called the "Sarles Branch". The town is named for North Dakota Governor Elmore Y. Sarles.

Its first post office opened in 1905. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 28 to 16 (-43%).

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

By decade

Sarles, decade by decade

Today18 recent
Sarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North DakotaSarles, North Dakota2009Sarles, North Dakota
On the map

Sarles on the map, 1953 to 1970

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

Sarles on the 1953 USGS mapSarles on the 1970 USGS map1953Devils Lake 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 Sarles.

People over time

Sarles, census by census

0100200300400192019401960198020002020Peak: 383

Between 16 and 383 people in every census since 1910.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

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

Cypress TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townDash TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Sarles’ history

What year was Sarles founded?

The Sarles 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 (18), 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.