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Township 149 Range 66 Map |
The townsite on Section 32, Township 149, Range 66 was established on
the James River in the spring of 1883 by the Jamestown & Northern Railroad (Northern Pacific) which was extending its line from Carrington on  to the Canadian border. There were two settlers here, just south of the new townsite, Hugh Peoples from City of Boston, Suffolk County, Massachusetts and Captain Walter G. Dunn from Meadville, Crawford County, Pennsylvania, who had squatted on the land a year previous.
Dunn started a general merchandise store in June of 1883, and established a post office in it on 2 July that was officially named DUNN but
commonly called DUNN'S CREEK Post Office and Dunn was appointed postmaster. It was discontinued 18 December 1883 and mail sent to NEW ROCKFORD.
When the railroad townsite promoters arrived they named their chosen site GARRISON for Lloyd Garrison, eastern railroad official and stockholder. Because the name was similar to that of another post office, it was renamed NEW ROCKFORD on 13 September 1883. The name was selected by Charles E. Gregory for his former home, Rockford, Winnebago County, Illinois. Other names had been suggested; ROCKY FORD, ROCKVILLE,
and ROCKFORD, all derived from the rock forde at this point which permitted crossing of the James River and was known as Rocky Ford by the settlers and freighters but the post office department rejected each one of those names. The NEW ROCKFORD post office was established 13 September 1883 with Francis A. Sebring, postmaster.
It was designated the county seat in 1885 and incorporated as a city in 1912.
Click on Picture for Larger View New Rockford Street Photo - 1908 - By Mons Belgum - From North Dakota Digital Horizons/colorized by Mike Peterson A Harvest of Heritage 100 Years on the Land — 1883-1983 New Rockford, Eddy County, North Dakota Downloaded from Digital Horizons, Life on the Northern Plains Visit them for images of North Dakota history. New Rockford Cemetery - Prairie Home Women's Auxiliary Cemetery Association New Rockford Cemetery - St. Johns Women's Auxiliary Cemetery Association New Rockford Website New Rockford Facebook Page New Rockford-Sheyenne School District #2 New Rockford Transcript Official Newspaper of Eddy County Eddy-New Rockford Public Library |