A history of Burlington,
since 1883
Postcards, papers and photographs of Burlington from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Burlington and its former settlements were founded by James Johnson and James Colton (the men who also settled Larimore, North Dakota) in Dakota Territory in the late 1870s. Earlier settlements were The Forks, and later Colton (named after James Colton), which are considered forerunners of the city. Its current name was given to it by Johnson during the creation of the post office, and was the name of his hometown of Burlington, Iowa. "The Forks" was used as a name for Burlington, alluding to its geographic location at the confluence of the Des Lacs and Mouse Rivers.
In the early 1890s, the Burlington Reporter became the first newspaper in western North Dakota. It would in the future be renamed to the Minot Daily News.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Burlington’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
2 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewTypical miner's home. Burlington,…, 1936: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Burlington, decade by decade
1990s
Nothing in Burlington is on the National Register yet
That’s true of most small towns. It doesn’t mean Burlington has no history, only that no one has written up a nomination. The closest listed place is Andrew Carr Sr. House in Minot, 5.3 miles away.
Burlington and the nearest listed places
How a place gets listed
Then & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Typical miner's home. Burlington, North Dakota (1936) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom the Library of Congress (6). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.