Posted in North Dakota April 15, 2020 by

11 Historic North Dakota Photographs That Show How Life Here Has Changed

The world is always changing, and the way of life with it. It can be crazy to think that in just 100 years we went from rolling the first, clunky consumer cars onto roads to today where people communicate from all over the world in an instant through the internet. Back in the day, living in North Dakota was different than it is now. These fascinating historic photographs of North Dakota showcase different parts of the day-to-day life and society from as early as the 1870s and up to the 1950s. Take a look and see just how different — and in some cases, similar — things were back then:

1. Let's go back to 1875, before North Dakota was a state, with a rather fancy hunting party.
NARA/Wikimedia
At first glance, you might not think this to be a hunting party. The men and women are all finely dressed and don't look like they are camping under that tent. That is exactly what they are doing, actually, as this was the hunting and camping party of Custer, setting up on the Little Heart River in what was then the Dakota Territory but now North Dakota. Today, hunting groups would be wearing camouflage and bright orange.
2. What about city life? Grand Forks, one of the state's biggest cities today, was not quite the same back in 1880.
Wikimedia
This photograph shows some storefronts in Grand Forks, North Dakota 140 years ago. General stores, such as this one, were very popular back in the day.
3. The 1880s were a busy time for North Dakota — the railroad was being built across the prairie at an astounding pace.
University of Washington/Wikimedia
This photograph was taken in 1880 as well, showing workgroups in western North Dakota carving out the land and laying down the track. The Northern Pacific Railroad was responsible for much of this development, and it's because of them that many of the state's towns exist today.
4. The railroads went across the vast grasslands, over rivers, and through even the badlands.
University of Washington/Wikimedia
Another photo showing a different part of the work: grading. Railroad crews were all over the state preparing for the eventual trains that would take hundreds of people across the country to the promising lands of the west. The work was tough and demanding, but it was done.
5. Once the rails were built, it wasn't always perfect — flooding has been happening in North Dakota's river valleys for centuries, and this was the result of one such spring.
University of Washington/Wikimedia
You can see a bridge in the background of this photo from 1887, depicting a steamer loading on passengers of a Northern Pacific train in Bismarck, North Dakota, on the Missouri River. The passengers had to take a ride on the steamer because the river was at flood stage and the tracks were not passable in Mandan. They were taken up the river to another town where they could continue their journey by rail.
6. Once the rails were completed, there was another thing bringing in tons of workers to North Dakota: mining.
Arthur Rothstein/yale.edu
In this photo from 1936, a miner stands in front of his temporary make-shift home, not much unlike the temporary housing for oil workers from much more recent ND oil booms. This photo was taken in Burlington, North Dakota.
7. There is always one type of work that has been prevalent in North Dakota no matter the decade, and that's farming.
NARA/Wikimedia
North Dakota is a heavily agricultural state, with most of the land converted into farm or ranch land. This photograph was taken in 1942 of a farmer feeding pigs corn. It may not look quite the same as today, but the daily work hasn't changed much.
8. Though farming has always been around, it has changed a lot in some ways, especially the shift between horsepower and machinery.
NARA/Wikimedia
This 1950s haying photo is certainly much different than the mowing and baling done today. Back then, horses were really the only way to go, with farmhands and workers being the ones to pile up the hay as they went along. You didn't get perfectly round bales formed right before your eyes back then, that's for sure!
9. Horsepower wouldn't last forever, though — cars and tractors would eventually take over.
NARA/Wikimedia
This amusing photo from 1933 was captioned, "Ole Bull meets up with the forest ranger. The saddle horse can navigate these kinds of roads with less grief than the speedier automobile." That may have been true then — and it's likely some people rejected the change of the new-fangled automobile and preferred to stick with a horse — but we saw how it played out. Road systems were definitely not as car-suitable then, but they definitely aren't horse-suitable now.
10. Houses in the 1930s to the 1950s were often ordered from a catalog, such as Sears & Roebuck, and were essentially mail-ordered and built on site.
NARA/Wikimedia
It's weird to think about ordering a house through the mail now, but back then this was pretty normal. After construction, these houses could be picked up off of their foundations and moved if necessary. In this photo from 1952, a family's house and shed were moved after a flood.
11. Some things have kept the same through the years in North Dakota, like a sense of community, family, faith, and the quiet prairie living.
Wikimedia
This charming photo from 1920 in a Lutheran church near Appam, North Dakota (now a ghost town), shows Christmastime one hundred years ago. Winters back then were just as harsh as they are today, but without modern luxuries — despite the hardships many people faced, they still enjoy the holiday cheer.

Which of these photos bring back memories from your past or your family’s history? We have showcased photos of more recent times in North Dakota, too. Check out these 1970s North Dakota photos for some serious nostalgia.

OnlyInYourState may earn compensation through affiliate links in this article.

Address: North Dakota, USA