Category
Culture
2022 Fargo History Project
The Branches of Battle Lake: The Colehour Family, Prospect House, and Local Resort History traces the layered history of one family and the community they helped shape. Structured in three parts, the film begins with an overview of Battle Lake’s development as a resort destination, situating the Prospect House within a broader landscape of leisure, tourism, and local enterprise. It then turns to a focused biography o
Read MoreMother Mary John Hughes
The order came to the Dakota Territory, in 1880 under Mother Mary John Hughes to own and run a free school, home, and academy. In the summer of 1882 the Presentation Sisters left for Fargo under the invitation of Father James Stephan and the recommendation of the regional bishop. Mother Mary John Hughes and her order of educators quickly set about teaching catechism lesson in the church while they waited for their pe
Read MoreProstitution in Fargo: An Overview
Prostitution is known as the world’s oldest profession. It should be no surprise then, that it was one of the earliest to arrive in Fargo, following the railroad into the city in its earliest years. Rather than provide a thorough analysis of prostitution in Fargo or focus on one particular figure, what follows is a brief outline of the rise and fall of prostitution in Fargo in the late 1800s and early 1900s,
Read MoreCivil War Veterans In Fargo
Though North Dakota was not a state when the Civil War took place, its history was shaped by the contribution of hundreds of Union Civil War veterans.[1] Though much research needs to be done to fill out the story,[2] some basic conclusions are in order. First, Civil War veterans came to Fargo in significant numbers in the decades after the war, just as they did to many other Midwestern and western communities duri
Read MoreCompany B: Fargo in the Spanish-American War (1898-99)
“Captain Keye… asked all who were willing to volunteer their services… to step two paces to the front. Every man of the fifty-four stepped up at once.”[1] Thus did the local Fargo paper describe the response of Fargo’s National Guard company, Company B, to President McKinley’s call for volunteers to serve in the Spanish-American War. Those men who were accepted for service by the U.S. Govern
Read MoreFraternal Organizations in Fargo and Moorhead
Like much of the nation in 1900, Fargo and Moorhead were smattered with various fraternal orders. As of 1900, both cities combined listed fifty-one fraternal organizations.[1] The Masonic Order was perhaps the most popular order established because of its celebration of Victorian principles in the life of American men. A man’s membership in a Masonic order showed his commitment to masculinity and set him up for succe
Read MoreNorth Dakota Children’s Home Society
In the late 1800’s, it was the practice of the New York Children’s Aid Society to round up homeless children from the streets, and send them west on the train to be distributed to farmers. Sometimes the children ended up in good homes, in other cases they were chosen just for their ability to serve as free labor. Children’s Home Societies were created in towns along the railroad to protect the “orph
Read MoreKu Klux Klan
Klan Background The Ku Klux Klan began in the American South after the Civil War to defy Reconstruction efforts to allow blacks to vote and hold office. It was inactive by the early 1890s, but resurfaced in 1915 when the film Birth of a Nation was released. The film depicted the original KKK as the heroic protector of Southern honor against the horrors of minorities. As the Klan moved beyond the South, it recruited F
Read MoreFargo: the Divorce Capital of the Midwest
While Fargo was still a rough-and-tumble outpost, one commodity became a steady source of income: divorce. Even when lawmakers put a three-month residency requirement in place, a steady stream of unhappy spouses came to Fargo on the Northern Pacific. Hotels were built so they could live and dine in luxury while waiting three months, and lawyers set up shop to help them navigate the legal waters. The waiting period wa
Read MoreProstitution
When houses of prostitution cluster in a city, they form what is commonly called a “red-light district”. “The Hollow,” as it was called in Fargo, had a scarlet glow from the 1880s to the early 20th century. Some “working girls” or prostitutes followed the men building the Northern Pacific Railroad, while others settled along the route. Many of the patrons visited Moorhead’s l
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