Org. February 3, 1896, under the name of Summit. Its name was changed to Lanona March 3, 1896, and to Alta July 14, 1896.
Org. August 3, 1903, as 'Ruth Township. Its name was changed to Anderson January 23, 1904. It was named for Alfred I. Anderson, only Swedish settler in the northwestern part of Barnes County in 1881, and a man who arrived in Barnes County on his twenty-first birthday at a time when land was being homesteaded along the Sheyenne Valley and the NP railroad.
Org. August 3, 1914. The PO and townsite at the junction of the Sheyenne River and the Baldhill Creek disappeared, but the Indian name remained for the prosperous community and township to the present and for the school, which, separated from the rest of the resort by the formation of Lake Ashtabula, closed in 1960 when its district was dissolved. A resort has grown up at the site of the new Ashtabula Bridge, two miles north of the now flooded old bridge.
Org. October 3, 1895, it was established originally as Algeo, no date given for name change. Named Baldwin for a missionary minister Father Baldwin, who used to come there to hold services. With no towns within its borders, it was always a farming area. Since its consolidated school in Section 22 closed and the school district was abolished in 1956, students attend Pillsbury and Luverne schools outside the township.
Org. January 7, 1888, named for a ghost town and PO established within its boundaries.
Org. February 2, 1909, this township was named for Andrew R. Brimer, who came to Barnes County in 1879 from Dundee, Scotland, by way of Montreal as a member of a construction crew building telegraph lines for the NPRR. He took out a claim ten miles Northwest of Sanborn, sent for his family, and built a four-room house with lumber hauled from Sanborn. He then bought horses in St. Paul to resell to the settlers of the area. Two school districts originated in the township and the four schools are no longer in existence.
Org. March 4, 1895, as Fairbanks, after a local family, its name was changed April 1, 1895, to Cuba after the community center. A dispute developed over the township name because the Fairbanks family wanted it named after them, but the others of the community did not.
Org. April 7, 1886, the township was named for the town.
Org. June 8, 1909, it was named for the lake of that name.
Org. September 20, 1886, it was established originally as Booth Township, which was also called Dana Township. Like the community and the school, it was named for Edna Booth, daughter of Albert Booth, a settler of 1879 who later became prominent in agricultural affairs in the county and also served as manager of the Nestor farm from 1907 to 1917.
Org. January 30, 1907, the township was named for the rural PO, which was named for George H. Ellsbury, the soldier, artist and manager of the Tower Properties.
Org. September 2, 1910, the township was named for Charles Getchill, one of the earliest settlers in Barnes County, who was living here in 1879 when the Northern Pacific Times began publication. His son George, later active in Valley City affairs, lived nearby and had obtained his land at 45 cents per acre in 1877 by buying government bonds. He sold it in 1880 at $14 per acre. Getchell Township is supposed to have the best soil and most level lands in the county. Getchell district No. 6 was organized in 1879, and its first school building was erected in Section 15. Other schools were built in Section 9 and in Section 25 of Stewart next to the river. All are closed. The two rural churches, Zion Lutheran in Section 30 and Getchell Congregational in Section 15, closed because of the proximity to Valley City in the 1930's.
Org. March 7, 1901, named because it is o
the township was n the prairie above the Sheyenne Valley. A farming community throughout, it has no lakes nor
towns. Its consolidated school, located in Section 16, has been closed since 1961, its students going to Valley City. In August 1963 the district was dissolved.
Org. March 3, 1894, the township was named for Judge David Nathaniel Green, a former judge of probate in Coldwater, Michigan. He, his family, and a number of others from Coldwater came to Stewart and Green townships in 1881 and took up land. He was married to the sister of A. H. Gray, another homesteader active in community affairs and later a pioneer lumber man in Valley City. The township was colorful with its Grays, Greens, Blacks, Lampmans, and Knights. The settlement was early called Gragreen. Judge Green was also a county commissioner for Barnes County and a representative for the sixth Legislative Assembly. No towns grew up in Green twp, the Grays, the Greens, and others living instead in Valley City, not far away. As in Stewart twp. few of the first settlers remained, their place taken mainly by Scandinavians. The Gragreen School #74 est. in 1882, lost territory to Plainview in Skandia until it was abolished May 18, 1915, when students went to Green Consolidated. Students of Green Township had also attended Franklin in Hemen twp. and Plainview until Green Consolidated was built in Southeast quarter of sec 15, February 16, 1914. Green Consolidated is now closed.
Org. February 3, 1896, it was established as Carlson Township, named for Andrew Carlson, Scandinavian settler who came to Barnes County January 23, 1877. Its name was changed to Greenland, a descriptive name, February 17, 1896. Mainly Norwegians and Hollanders in the township.
Org. March 20, 1895, the township was named for Charles Hemen, one of the early settlers. Enticed by reports of the large amount of prairie land open for settlement, the first settlers came from Ontario, Canada. Many returned to Canada but others, unable to get away, stayed and built up the county. In 1881 the first school district was organized, dist. 26 or Flach school, others soon followed: Hillside #48 on November 14, 1882; Mansfield in 1882; Franklin #91 on March 5, 1895. The next settlers were sturdy Germans, most of whom remained. A few English and Swedes and also some Norwegians were in the eastern part. At present the schools are all closed.
Org. March 1, 1895, and named for the townsite, Hobart, it was first settled in 1879. Its population was mostly Scandinavian and German. By 1892 three district schools were in the township, and a Swedish church. Two shipping points in the township, Hobart and Berea, served as outlets for the shipment of grain, stock, milk products and sheep. The Nebo Lutheran Church built here in 1890 was moved to Valley City during World War Two so that the cemetery remains. Descendents of the Swedish farmers still live mainly to the north; descendents of the Germans farm in the south.
Org. February 2, 1906, the township was named for Lake Ensign within its boundaries. A farming area, it has no towns or railroads. Its three rural schools in Section 10, Section 27, and Section 33 have been closed for some time, the students going to Wimbledon and North Central.
Org. February 4, 1901, the township was named for Henry Mansfield Zellars, who, although he soon returned to Sanborn and became a blacksmith, was the first settler to file on land in the township. George Gordon, who came from Scotland in 1882 and was the second to take up land in Mansfield township, had a tree claim in addition to his preemption claim. The early settlers built the first school building in Southeast quarter of Section 21, near the center of the township, which had no railroad nor town within its boundaries. All its rural schools are now closed.
Org. April 1 , 1912, Marsh township was named for L. D. Marsh, later Register of Deeds in Barnes County. He came here December 30, 1873, and settled south of Valley City in the Sheyenne Valley. Marsh Township's five schools are closed.
Org. March 2, 1903, as Clark City Twp., it became Meadow Lake July 6, 1903. The name is descriptive. The first settler, John Elliott, a native of Longford County, Ireland, came here October 1881, and filed on a homestead and tree claim. A long slough used as a hay meadow gives the name to the township. Will Jones, oldest settler, who came to Barnes County in 1880 from Wisconsin with a group, platted Clark City to entice Easterners to settle. Another group, all relatives, came from Iowa and settled.
Meadow Lake township has no railroads nor towns but does have Indian trails, mounds, tee-pee marks, fire marks and an Indian grave. All the rural schools are closed.
Org. October 7, 1889, the township was named for Minnie Lake. The township had no railroads nor towns but had a church in Section 6, three rural schools #29 built January 1882, now closed, and also has coulees that are glacial outwashes and the Maple coulee. The Minnie Lake Lutheran Church, struck by lightning and burned down, was rebuilt on the highway in Section 6. Richard Schuler and Edwin Priest came to the twp. from St. Charles, Minnesota in 1880 and took up adjoining quarters. They built the first school in 1880 and Frank E. Sherman became the first settler in the township in 1879.
Org. June 7, 1907, and named for Andrew Nelson, a Norwegian settler and Civil War Veteran with the Minnesota Volunteers, who came to Barnes County in May 1878. He bought land in Section 27 on both sides of the Sheyenne and built a log cabin in 1879. He also had a tree claim in Section 18 in Norma twp., filed on a homestead formerly occupied by John "the Swede" Gust Lindahl. In addition, he built a better cabin on the west side of the river and built a frame house near his first cabin. Most of the other early settlers along the river were also Scandinavians who came to Barnes County from Minnesota on February 1, 1882. They met to organize school dist. 32 which already had been laid out by county Supt. Sager. Mr. Nelson, who died in 1884, and his wife, who died in 1886, are buried on their farm. The four rural schools in this township are closed.
Org. March 4, 1895, and originally called Success, the township soon had its name changed to honor Louis Nok tinner, a prominent settler of 1880 in the township. He was typical of the sturdy German pioneers of the community, most of them Protestant. Most of the families came from the same place in Germany, and most of them were related. The Irish, also settling in the township, came to Dakota by way of Canada. Many of them were catholic and also related. Henry Bruns and the Fischers were largely responsible for reorganization of the school district into Noltimer Consolidated in 1915. The Salem Methodist church, has been in use since 1896.
Org. March 23, 1889, the township for a short time was called Christville, origin of name unknown. The inference would seem to be here that it was named for one of the Scandinavian settlers since Christianson, Christenson, Christopherson, Christopher, and Christ are common names among them. No date is given for the name change to Norman twp., perhaps as a derivation of Norsemen. When it was discovered that there was another township in North Dakota by the same name, the Barnes County township was changed to the feminine form, Norma, September 16, 1904. Most of the early settlers were Norwegians like Ludvig Lee, a settler of 1878. Hans Christopherson's dugout was probably the first primitive house in Norma to be occupied. The first settler to take a claim was Andrew Nelson in 1878. There were four early schools in the township plus Daily #3, dist. 1 built in Section 31, 1917.
Formerly called Yucatan Township, it was organized July 6, 1889, as Oakville twp. and its name was changed to Oak Hill township September 6, 1904, to agree with the name change of the site of Myron Walker's mill. Some of the earliest settlements in Barnes County were made in this township. Daily, est. in 1879, was also the first school district in the county. Other towns, now extinct, grew up along the river, flourished, and died. The township was outstanding for its water-powered mills established along the Sheyenne River, which attracted settlers from long distances to trade. The railroads infringing on the trade areas marked the decline of the towns and the mills. Kathryn now remains the only village in the twp.
Org. November 21, 1887, it was named for the village of Oriska and was settled mostly by people from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. Many were of German descent. The farms were generally about three or four hundred acres each. Tower City, originally part of Oriska township, is now listed in Cass County.
Org. April 7, 1886, it was named for Frank Henry Pierce, a resident of the township from Kendallville, Indiana, who filed in Section 18, in 1883. Settlement had begun in 1881. The Soo Railroad, built through the county in 1892, caused the formation of Wimbledon. The first school was built in 1894 and later, with two other early schools, consolidated into district #82 in Southwest quarter of Section 13.
Org. July 8, 1893, the township was named for Charles Potter, an early settler of 1879. Several lakes, some hills, the main line of the NPRR, Interstate 94, and National Highway no. one, and the town of Sanborn make this township extremely varied. Settled mainly by German Catholics, its location near the center of the township has made it important to travelers since the time when there were only Indian trails through the county. RARITAN TOWNSHIP
Org. April 3, 1888, the township was named by Mr. Liddle, B. P' Stowell, and Wilbur Galbreath for the Raritan River in New Jersey near the former home of J. P. Liddle. It is in the Southwest corner of the county, over thirty miles from the county seat of Valley City, but accessible to Lucca, Nome, and Enderlin. The school, the center of the civic life of the community and located near the center of the township was built in 1915. The original building was replaced in the 1920's by a two-room modern school to include students from the three rural schools in the twp. The two teachers and ten grade system became a one teacher and eight grade system as a result of the depression. Finally, on June 30, 1961 , the school was abolished.
Petition for organization was filed March 22, 1904. The township was named for the village of Rogers and settled largely by Scandinavians and Germans.
Name descriptive of the prairie roses growing throughout the area. Org. April 7, 1899, under the name of Lincoln. The name was changed to Rosebud September 6, 1904. Standing Rock, just across State Highway forty-six in Ransom county; was an important landmark for the Indians and whites as well. As a result, many early trails crossed this township including those of John C. Fremont in 1839, Sibley in 1863, and travelers between Fort Sisseton and Devils Lake. In 1856 an Indian Powwow was held at the Place-where-they-ate-many-dogs - Clausen's Grove. The township was settled by one of the three groups of Swedish settlers in Barnes County, plus other Scandinavians. A rich trade area has kept Litchville one of the two progressive small towns in the county.
Org. November 10, 1908, as Ladbury township, its name was changed to Sibley, January 19, 1909, and finally to Sibley Trail Township, April 13, 1910, for the route of General Sibley through the northern part of Barnes County and particularly for the place where he crossed the Sheyenne River. The four one-room schools of this twp. are now closed. The
Ladbury Congregational Church, now closed, and St. Mary's Church of Wieland, are in this township.
Org. January 28, 1891, the township was named for the rural PO of Skandia, and was settled mainly by Norwegians and Swedes, many of whom came in the early 1880's. The four schools established in the township have been closed.
Org. November 10, 1890, it was named for Spring Creek, which rises in the Northeastern part of the township less than a mile NNW of Hastings. The rural schools are closed in the township and Litchville, a portion of which is in the Northwest quarter of Section 30 takes students by bus from all portions of the township. The Casselton-Marion Branch of the NPRR goes through the township from the northwest to the southeast and passes through Hastings and Litchville. State Highway number one bisects Spring Creek north and south one mile from eastern boundary-from State Highway number 46, to southern border of the twp. to Skandia on the North.
Org. December 31, 1894, this twp. was named by Fred Maxim for the county from which he and a group of settlers had come in Wisconsin. The name of the county is descriptive of the springs in it. Bordering Cass County to the east, this township has neither town nor railroad and only one major highway, State Highway number 32, which runs parallel to the western boundary of this township one mile within it.
The only township to be formally christened when named in 1881 . Officially organized February 1 , 1910, it was named for James Stewart who came to Barnes County August 4, 1874, chose a homestead and tree claim for himself and also for his son-in-law, and returned with his wife August 14, 1878, from Jackson, Michigan, along with a whole colony from central Michigan. In addition to the seventeen families he induced to come with him, there were also Bohemians and Germans. The first woman to teach in a frame school in Barnes County was Mrs. Omma Sweet Sager, wife of the first elected county Superintendent, Edgar A. Sager, from one of the Michigan families.
Org. April 3, 1899, Svea is a girl's name in Swedish, corresponding to "Seen." Named unofficially long before by its Scandinavian settlers, it has no railroads nor towns. Of the three rural churches established about 1882, one is still being used. Rural schools #24 and 44 were established in early 1880's; dist. 44 was abolished May 8, 1915, and all of the twp. became district #24, Svea Consolidated, which had a high school until 1863. Svea Consolidated is now closed.
Org. August 2, 1886, the township received its name from the Scandinavian settlers who combined the words "thorden", meaning "thunder", and "Skjold", meaning "color" or "shield". Since the township is immediately north of Standing Rock, the first settlers who came in 1878 found Indians nearby frequently, and Ole Baarstad, the settler nearest to Standing Rock, often bartered milk for venison in 1879 and 1880. Lake Robertson was a favorite stopping place for them and for travelers on the Fort Totten-Fort Ransom Trail. The Sheyenne Valley between Kathryn and Eastedge, is listed by the State Geographical Board as one of the places of greatest interest in North Dakota.
Org. July 2, 1886, and named for Uxbridge PO, its first settlers were chiefly from Eastern Canada, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and the Northeastern States. Its first homestead was filed on November 19, 1880, by Margreth Fried, the first tree claim was filed on the same day by Ulrich Fried. School district #41 was organized in 1882 on Northeast quarter of Section 23, and consolidated with district #50 in 1909 on Northwest quarter of Section 22. School was held until 1943 and abolished in 1957. Yards were laid out for a town in Section 4, its blueprints bearing the name Hilltown, but it never developed because Gibson, later Wimbledon, was established instead. Two railroads go through the township, the Soo and the Midland Continental.
Org. October 8, 1885, it was named for George Weimer, the first settler, who came to the township before August 1880. A township without railroads or towns, it borders Cass County and the Red River Valley on the east. Three school districts in the township, one established in 1881, are all out of existence. The rural church Minnie Lake Lutheran is also closed.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 8