State of North Dakota

North Dakota State History - North Dakota, state in the West North Central United States. It is bounded by Minnesota on the east, South Dakota on the south, and Montana on the west. North of it lies Canada. North Dakota belongs to the vast plains section of the United States, and like other plains states it is predominantly agricultural. Bismarck is the capital of North Dakota. Fargo is the largest city.

Early European residents were originally involved in fur trading, but after wars with Native Americans subsided and railroads were constructed, settlers poured into the state to take up its rich farmland. However, the prairie farmers have not always been successful economically. Political affairs in the state have vividly reflected the farmers’ resentments against outside control of wheat prices and against the rates charged for storage and transportation of their grain. When the region including present-day North Dakota was made a territory of the United States in 1861, it was named for the Dakota people who lived there. Residents chose to retain the name when the territory was divided into north and south states upon admission into the Union on November 2, 1889. North Dakota is the 39th state. The Dakota people are better known as the Sioux, and have given the state one of its several nicknames—the Sioux State. North Dakota is called the Peace Garden State—in reference to the International Peace Garden on the border between North Dakota and Manitoba. Finally, the state is called the Flickertail State, referring to the flickertail ground squirrel common to central North Dakota.

North Dakota Discontinued Counties - This section provides an list of North Dakota counties that no longer exist. They were established by the state, provincial, or territorial government. Most of these counties were created and disbanded in the 19th century; county boundaries have changed little since 1900 in the vast majority of states.

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North Dakota Burned Courthouses - The destruction of courthouses greatly affects genealogists in every way. No only are these historic structures torn from our lives, so are the records they housed: marriage, wills, probate, land records, and others. Once destroyed they are lost forever. Even if they have been placed on mircofilm, computers and film burn too. The most heartbreaking side of this is the fact that many of our courthouses are destroyed at the hands of arsonist. However, not all records were lost.

Below is a list of North Dakota Counties and the years the Courthouses were subjected to a disaster. This does NOT mean that ALL RECORDS were lost. Often, folks took their documents again in for recording after a disaster and later deeds will contain long chains of title, etc.

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North Dakota County Selection Table - Select a county from the table below to to view more information on genealogical information & records pertaining to each county.