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Built Environment

“An Ordinance Relating to Lighting”

On April 26, 1901 the Supreme Court of the state of North Dakota, in the case of Robert against Fargo Gas & Electric Co and the city of Fargo, ruled that the contract between the city of Fargo and Fargo Gas & Electric Co was void.  This ruling was made by the Supreme Court for reasons that the city charter states that the city cannot make a contract for more than a year.[1]   The contract between Fargo Gas &a
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Repurposing Fargo

Fargo has grown immensely and gone through numerous changes in its 142-year history. Growing from just over 2,500 people in 1880 to over 107,000 today and surviving such natural disasters as fires, floods and tornadoes; nothing has been able to stop Fargo from thriving. Fargo’s downtown has always been a thriving business mecca[1] of the Red River Valley and is a key reason Fargo has survived to be the city it is tod
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Fargo Churches: Then and Now

This slideshow features historic photographs of several of the churches of Fargo, accompanied by recent photographs, which allow for side-by-side comparison. The recent photographs were taken by Scott Becklund in 2012. Mr. Becklund attempted to recreate the original location and angle of the archival photographs. Most of the churches retain some of their original character, while some have been demolished. 1. Elim Lu
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Bridges

The history of bridges in the Fargo area is only half the tale. Much like neighbors deciding how to split the cost of labor and materials on a fence, the city of Moorhead had just as much invested into bridge building as Fargo did. Needless to say, the meetings between Fargo and Moorhead officials got heated at times. The back and forth went from petty accusations to downright grudge matches, but in the end it all wo
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Streets

From the city’s conception, Fargo officials have had to struggle with issues dealing with maintaining and funding the city streets. The wet season brought deep ruts in  the sticky North Dakota clay making travel tough and some streets inaccessible. Grading the streets of Fargo began in 1875 and paying for it fell to the citizens. Every male between 21 and 60 years old who was able to work paid with one day’s la
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Sidewalks

Sidewalks were one of the important issues at the top of the “to-do” list that the Fargo City Council had to stay on top of. Wet weather and sticky North Dakota clay played an important role in the urgency of addressing this issue. Most sidewalks were six feet wide, but streets like Broadway, Northern Pacific Avenue, as well as other streets with heavy foot traffic were equipped with ten-foot sidewalks.[1] In 1875 th
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Henry and Mary Hector

In 1878, Henry Hector, just 17 years old, arrived in the Fargo-Moorhead area at the request of his brother Martin and started a grocery business.[1] He lost his store to a fire in 1882, but successfully rebuilt and continued his business.  He served as the president of the Continental Hose Company and represented the Second Ward on the city council. Henry married the sister of his brother’s wife, Mary Paulson. Henry
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The First Lutheran Church

Like other religious groups, Lutherans populated the landscape in large numbers, which brought about the need for a communal place of worship.  Members established a church in which they aptly named First Lutheran Church, located in the area of 400 Roberts Street.  The church was built with an open porch and there were several wooden homes built next to this church. As with most of the other early religious structure
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The First Methodist Church, 1874

First, this picture of the First Methodist Church indicates that it was built in a dense growth of older trees.  This would indicate that it was taken close to water and not deep into the prairie.  Therefore, there was no retreat for the early settlers of Fargo if faced with outside threats. Next, the windows are exposed and remarkably made of stained glass.  Not only were the new settlers resilient, but they showed
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