Post by Tomspy77 on Feb 16, 2015 19:27:22 GMT -6
UND professor tells tales of Grand Forks County's 'ghost towns'
In North Dakota’s early days, towns followed the railroad, popping up wherever a railway company announced an expansion.
Along with railroad tracks, thriving communities were marked by grain elevators, churches and post offices.
And if a town was large enough to have a Main Street lined with businesses, its leaders would’ve wanted to have a postcard made to boast about the town’s attractions.
But many of those railroad towns have faded since the 1900s.
During her lecture “Ghosts of the Valley: Abandoned Towns of the Red River” at the Myra Museum on Sunday, UND professor Kim Porter told the quirky stories of communities in Grand Forks County’s early history that have since diminished.
Communities she listed as “ghost towns” include: Orr, Kempton, Kellys, Mekinock, Honeyford, Gilby, Johnstown, Bellevue, Holmes, Fergus and Bachelor’s Grove, among others.
As Porter told her stories, members of the large audience at the museum occasionally whispered or asked Porter questions, remembering anecdotes from the ghost towns’ pasts.
Porter noted unusual quirks of each town, including a photography shop that existed in Fergus in 1893 and how the community Bachelor’s Grove received that name because it was a town of all bachelors and only one family.
She noted landmarks of these towns that are still standing today, including a round barn in Kempton.
And Porter explained that as the automotive industry rose, younger people left these small towns with cars, taking their families with them, which halted the communities’ growth.
The Grand Forks County Historical Society, which sponsored the lecture, officially supports 13 communities, but “those are the survivors,” Porter said.
The Myra Museum is hosting its next Sunday lecture March 1 at 2 p.m., when Mike Jacobs will present “Thomas Say: Bugman and Dreamer.”
The lectures are free and open to all ages.
For more information, visit www.grandforkshistory.com.
Along with railroad tracks, thriving communities were marked by grain elevators, churches and post offices.
And if a town was large enough to have a Main Street lined with businesses, its leaders would’ve wanted to have a postcard made to boast about the town’s attractions.
But many of those railroad towns have faded since the 1900s.
During her lecture “Ghosts of the Valley: Abandoned Towns of the Red River” at the Myra Museum on Sunday, UND professor Kim Porter told the quirky stories of communities in Grand Forks County’s early history that have since diminished.
Communities she listed as “ghost towns” include: Orr, Kempton, Kellys, Mekinock, Honeyford, Gilby, Johnstown, Bellevue, Holmes, Fergus and Bachelor’s Grove, among others.
As Porter told her stories, members of the large audience at the museum occasionally whispered or asked Porter questions, remembering anecdotes from the ghost towns’ pasts.
Porter noted unusual quirks of each town, including a photography shop that existed in Fergus in 1893 and how the community Bachelor’s Grove received that name because it was a town of all bachelors and only one family.
She noted landmarks of these towns that are still standing today, including a round barn in Kempton.
And Porter explained that as the automotive industry rose, younger people left these small towns with cars, taking their families with them, which halted the communities’ growth.
The Grand Forks County Historical Society, which sponsored the lecture, officially supports 13 communities, but “those are the survivors,” Porter said.
The Myra Museum is hosting its next Sunday lecture March 1 at 2 p.m., when Mike Jacobs will present “Thomas Say: Bugman and Dreamer.”
The lectures are free and open to all ages.
For more information, visit www.grandforkshistory.com.