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History · Blacktail

Blacktail’s history is
mostly unwritten

The public archives hold no old photos of Blacktail. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.

0old images & papers
0recent photos

The story so far

from Wikipedia & the U.S. Census

Blacktail is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) built around Blacktail Lake in Williams County, North Dakota, United States. It was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Blacktail had a population of 61. The CDP is in northwestern Williams County, in the north-central part of Blacktail Township. It consists of residences built on the shore of Blacktail Lake, a small reservoir built on Blacktail Creek, a southeast-flowing tributary of the Little Muddy River, which flows south to the Missouri River at Williston, 25 miles (40 km) south of Blacktail.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 62 to 87 (+40%). Half of its homes were built before 1993.

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Blacktail yet — the old photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Intro from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Population and housing: U.S. Census Bureau.

Be one of the first

Start Blacktail’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Blacktail’s history is told.

0 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Famous people from BlacktailWriters, athletes, leaders and more who were born in Blacktail.Meet them →
By decade

Blacktail, decade by decade

Before
2000
No old photos in the archives yetWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
📷 Add from your album
National Register of Historic Places

Nothing in Blacktail is on the National Register yet

That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Blacktail has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Williston High School in Williston, 18.9 miles away.

Blacktail and the nearest listed places

Dashed line = Blacktail. Tap a dot.
Williston High SchoolJames Memorial LibraryOld US Post OfficeOld ArmoryCreaser Building

Closest to Blacktail

Williston High SchoolWilliston · Building18.9miJames Memorial LibraryWilliston · Building18.9miOld US Post OfficeWilliston · Building19.1miOld ArmoryWilliston · Building19.1miCreaser BuildingWilliston · Built 191619.2mi

How a place gets listed

1Talk to the stateEvery nomination goes through the State Historic Preservation Office. Owners, towns and historical societies can start one.
2Try a local or state list firstMany states keep their own register with a shorter form, a common first step for old barns, halls and schoolhouses.
3Write it upA nomination covers the history, photos and a map. Williston High School’s page links to a real one.
Know an old place in Blacktail?A mill, a schoolhouse, a cellar hole, a church: add a photo of it to Blacktail’s story, or a memory of it.
📷 Add a photo of an old place
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places · photos from Wikimedia Commons

Then & now

When neighbors add old photos, retakes from the same spot appear here side by side.

Stories next door

nearby towns’ history
📜 Orthell📜 Athens📜 Bonetraill📜 Tyrone
The porch light’s on

Where to, neighbor?

You’re in Blacktail, NDWilliams CountyView boundary

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Boundary source: https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer/15 · 2025-01-01
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