In 1873 the Northern Pacific Railroad constructed a siding on the west side of Eckelson Lake and called the location "Seventh Siding." It remained "Seventh Siding" until 1879, when it was named "Eckelson" for Lake Eckelson.
According to records, Ephriam S. Lawrence, an employee of the railroad, purchased the land involved and a village was platted on November 14, 1882 by Ephriam S. Lawrence, Dr. William Calvert and Angus Spannagel. Lawrence had previously applied for a postoffice and it was established on July 21, 1882. Lawrence constructed a combination store and postoffice at that time. The plat was located in the south one-half of Section 18, Potter Township. Willie Murphy and Jonas Lee filed on the north one-half of the Section but sold their claim to a Fargo real estate firm and an addition was platted on the north side of the railroad tracks. At this time strenuous efforts were made to sell lots in Eckelson by sending advertizements to the east, portraying Eckelson as a summer resort, center of a trade distribution and the logical place for the location of the Capitol when Dakota Territory was divided.
A school, probably one-room, was built. A depot, a small elevator and several other buildings were constructed. No doubt the village boasted of a lumber yard, a boarding house and at least one saloon.
In 1897 the village was moved, lock, stock and barrel, one and six-tenths miles to the west to Section 14 to land owned by Burton Scouten. The railroad found that the heavy freights, coming off Lake Eckelson and stopping on the grade in Eckelson, had great difficulty in starting again., Passenger trains would not stop unless there were more than one passenger getting off at Eckelson (see the article on Dr. De Veau in the Feature Section). The new Eckelson was platted by Scouten in 1905 on the south side of the track. It served as a minor trading center until the advent of the automobile and good roads and now is primarily a social center.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 283