Greetings from North Dakota; Address and Date Book

Price: $13.95 - Order Form * Back to Publications

Two postcard collections are featured in this spiral bound address and date book - those collected and saved by Lawrence Aasen and his mother Clara Brenden Aasen, and a collection of North Dakota town postcards collected by retired Fargo physician Ronald Olin. Together they provide an amazing glimpse of the many small towns that dotted the North Dakota countryside in the early 20th century. The featured postcards date from the early 1900s to the 1930s. They represent some of the best examples produced during the "golden age" of postcards from circa 1907 to World War I. Many today could be considered works of art, particularly those printed in color.

Sample Postcards

 

The first classes for the children of LaMoure began in 1883 only a year after the town's founding. A wood-frame school was built in 1885, and this brick school, costing $50,000, was built in 1905. It served the community's educational needs more than 60 years until 1969 when it was torn down and replaced by a new school complex.

 

The North Dakota Agricultural College, now North Dakota State University, was founded in 1890. It also is the home of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and the NDSU Extension Service. Students were enrolled not only in agriculture but also engineering, home economics, pharmacy, chemistry and the arts and sciences. This 1936 collage features the most prominent buildings on the campus, all of which are still standing. They surround a view of the campus entrance with wrought-iron gates designed by the campus blacksmith. The gates lead to Old Main, the oldest campus building.

 

 

 

Joseph C. Henvis, whose homestead encompassed the town site, named it Fairmount in 1884. Henvis agreed to give up his property only if he could have naming rights. He chose the name Fairmount, after Fairmount Park located in his home city of Philadelphia, Penn. It is claimed that Fairmount was the only place in North Dakota that was serviced by four different railroads: the Fairmount & Veblen, Milwaukee Road, the Great Northern and the Soo Line. This view shows the north side of Main Street on one of its busier days.

 


Back to the Publications Page

Order Form