Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Most of West Bay Township was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1974. Below: maps from 1958 on.
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how West Bay Township’s history is told.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of West Bay Township yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
West Bay Township is a civil township in Benson County, North Dakota, United States. As of the 2000 census, its population was 60.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 57 to 35 (-39%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of West Bay Township. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of West Bay Township.
Nobody well known was born in West Bay Township itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps 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.
