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History · Wishek

Wishek’s post office opened in 1898, and 16% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1982 on and the census since 1910.

1898first post office
0on the National Register
16%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Andrew Filer · CC BY-SA 2.0
Quick answers

How Wishek began

When was Wishek founded?

1898

The Wishek post office opened in 1898, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 432 in 19102020 census: 864128 years
Founding year: the first Wishek post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Wishek’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 Wishek are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,345 in 1980; 864 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Wishek’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Wishek’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

Wishek, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,345

Peaked at 1,345 in 1980; 864 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Wishek came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wishek.

Read it all →

Wishek was platted in 1898 when the railroad was extended to that point. A post office has been in operation at Wishek since 1898. The city was named in honor of John H. Wishek Sr., a local cattleman. Wishek was originally built up chiefly by Germans from Russia. The Old Wishek City Hall was built in 1916.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wishek, 1898 to 1982

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Wishek post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1972Born hereMark Pfeifle is born here
  5. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 1,345
  6. 1982On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Wishek, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Wishek, North Dakota2008Wishek, North DakotaWishek, North Dakota2008Wishek, North DakotaWishek, North Dakota2008Wishek, North DakotaWishek, North Dakota2008Wishek, North DakotaWishek, North Dakota (2008)2008Wishek, North Dakota (2008)Old Wishek City Hall2008Old Wishek City Hall
On the map

Wishek on the map in 1982

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

Wishek on the 1982 USGS map1982Wishek 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 Wishek.

Questions about Wishek’s history

What year was Wishek founded?

The Wishek post office opened in 1898, 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 →
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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 (6), 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.