Posted in North Dakota History July 28, 2021 by Leah

12 Historic Photos That Show Us What It Was Like Living In North Dakota In The Early 1900s

Until time machines are invented, there is no way for us to truly experience what life was like a hundred years ago. Yes, believe it or not, it’s been more than 120 years since the start of the 20th century! It still feels like we were just leaving it, and yet here we are, more than two decades into the 21st century. Although we can’t go back and see the 1900s ourselves in person anymore, we can look through the literal lens of the people who lived in it via photographs. Here are 12 historic photos of North Dakota that show what life was like all those years ago, a whole century, in the early 1900s.

1. Downtown Grand Forks in 1909, very different to today. You certainly don't see horse-drawn carts parked on the side of the road anymore.

2. A school football team in North Dakota in the 1930s.

3. A wooden dance hall in McLean County, built in 1923.

4. A church in Devils Lake, photo taken in the 1910s or early 1920s.

5. A train station in Fargo in the 1930s. Note the sign - only $5.70 for a round trip all the way to Minneapolis, with five trains leaving a day.

6. The Missouri River was busy with freighters in the 1900s, such as this one photographed in 1912 near Williston, North Dakota.

7. Graduation day in the 1930s at a North Dakota school.

8. This is a "stereo-image" that was meant to be seen in a viewfinder, giving the appearance of a 3D image. The photo was taken near Bismarck in the first few years of the 1900s.

9. A street photo from Kensal, North Dakota in the early 1900s. Residents of the town are seen standing around with dogs and children in a wagon.

10. A tractor pulling a road grader on a family farm in North Dakota, taken in 1918.

11. A group of ladies in Napoleon, North Dakota, displaying some of the fashion at the time.

12. A horse and a car meeting on a road, as horses were beginning to be phased out and cars becoming the main source of transport. Photo taken in the early 1930s.

What family stories do you have of past generation’s lives that you were reminded of looking at these historic photos of North Dakota? We’re happy to hear them! In the meantime, here are more photographs of North Dakota, this time focusing on photos during the 1930s.

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