Immigration into the Hannaford area really began 100 years ago in 1881. This area was surveyed in 1879. Most of the land around Hannaford was homesteaded by 1883. The Cooper Brothers of Cooperstown harvested their first crop in 1881. Griggs County was formed from parts of Traill and Foster Counties on February 18, 1881. As first organized, Griggs County included the western portion of the present Steele County. By popular vote, November 7, 1882, Cooperstown became the county seat of Griggs County. At the time, Cooperstown existed only on paper, but the founders began immediately to build the town. The county seat was at first located at Hope. Griggs County was named in honor of Captain Alexander Griggs, founder of Grand Forks, and closely identified with the earliest navigation on the Red River of the North.
The Sanborn, Cooperstown and Turtle Mountain Railroad, a branch off the Northern Pacific at Sanborn, was completed through Hannaford the summer of 1883. The railroad officials decided there would be towns at "Daisy's" and on Bald Creek. These towns were platted and on the market in August 1883. Hannaford was named for J. M. Hannaford of St. Paul. He started as chief clerk in the general freight office of the Northern Pacific Railway and eventually became president and chairman of the board.
A loading platform for grain was built in Hannaford in 1883. In early 1884, the first building, a small shack for storing grain, was built west of the track. This shack eventually blew down and was replaced by a flat warehouse. The railroad erected a water tank at Bald Hill Creek north of town where the section house was built. This supplied water for the trains in 1884. By the end of 1885, a large amount of grain was being shipped from Hannaford. The first elevator designed as we know them today was built in 1888, by Cargill.
On October 17, 1905, the Hannaford Enterprise wrote a short history of Hannaford. They said, "The town of Hannaford dates back to 1886." This was a significant year in the history of Hannaford.
Little building was done until 1886, when R. C. Brophy started a store and several other businesses were started. Mr. Brophy built the first house and moved his family from Cooperstown in 1887. This house is no longer lived in, but still stands behind the bowling alley.
Andrew Langdon owned and farmed much of the land on which Hannaford was located. The townsite was platted by the Langdon's the end of 1886. This was also the year Hannaford first had a post office. R. C. Brophy was the first Postmaster. The post office was in his store.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 11