Trails to the Past

Trails to the Past of North Dakota is excepting any donations of genealogy materials that you may have such as marriage announcements, news articles, old obituaries, births, (you do not need the birth certificate) just the information, and biographies.  If you have any of these items please contact me Marie Miller the North Dakota State Administrator.

Ward County was created by the 1885 Dakota Territory legislature and named for Mark Ward, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Counties during the session. The county government was first organized on November 23, 1885 with Burlington as the county seat. This was changed to Minot in 1888.
Until 1910, Ward County included what is now Burke, Mountrail, and Renville counties; this landmass often being referred to as 'Imperial Ward' County. When Burke and Renville counties were partitioned out of Imperial Ward County, neither wanted to include Kenmare and risk that city becoming the county seat, so Kenmare was left in Ward County at the end of a narrow strip of land

Cities of Ward County are Berthold, Burlington, Carpio, Des Lacs, Donnybrook, Douglas, Kenmare, Makoti, Minot, Ryder, Sawyer and Surrey.  Census designated places are the Minot Air Force Base.  Unincorporated communities are Aurelia which is a ghost town south of Donnybrook, Drady, Foxholm a small community in the Des Lacs Valley north of Burlington, Gassman founded as the Cassman Creek Coulee trestle was being built, now referred to as Trestle Valley.  Hartland a ghost town north of Berthold, Hesnault, Lonetree a small 100 person community northwest of Des Lacs and southwest of Berthold, Logan a small community south of Minot and north of Sawyer in the Souris River Valley, Rice Lake a small community around Rice Lake south of Minot, Rice Lake Park, Ruthville a small community that was created due to the construction of the Minot Air Force Base about a mile north, South Prairie a small community with a modern school, south of Minot, Wolseth a diminishing community south of the Renville County border and Granville. 

Ward County Townships

On Line Data

Adjacent counties
Renville County (north)
McHenry County (east)
McLean County (south)
Mountrail County (west)
Burke County (northwest)

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