North Dakota Fast Facts and Key Resources

• Statehood: 1889

• US territory status: Part of Missouri Territory beginning in 1818, Michigan in 1834, Wisconsin in 1836, Iowa in 1838, Minnesota in 1849, no territory in 1858 and Dakota in 1861

• First extant federal census: 1900

• Statewide birth and death records begin: 1893

• Statewide marriage records: 1925

• Counties: 53

• Contact for vital records:

Division of Vital Records

600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 301

Bismarck, ND 58505

(701) 328-2360

<ndhealth.gov/vital>

WEB SITES

• 1885 Territorial Census

<www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs/databases/census.php>

• 1895 North Dakota Atlas

<www.livgenmi.com/1895/ND>

• Ethnic Groups in North Dakota

<www.prairiepublic.org/features/newpioneers/ethnic>

• Ghost Towns of North Dakota

<www.ghostsofnorthdakota.com>

• North Dakota Chronology

<www.state.nd.us/hist/chrono.htm>

• North Dakota GenWeb Project

<rootsweb.com/~ndgenweb>

• North Dakota State Genealogical Society

<rootsweb.com/~ndsgs>

• North Dakota Supreme Court: Counties

<www.court.state.nd.us/court/counties/counties.htm>

• Oral History Project

<www.state.nd.us/hist/sal/gen/infoh.htm>

• Pioneer Certificates Index

<rootsweb.com/~sdsvgs/index1.htrn>

• Public Death Index

<secure.apps.state.nd.us/doh/certificates/deathCertSearch.htm>

Resources

• Early History of North Dakota by Clement A. Lounsberry (Liberty Press)

• The Family Tree Resource Book for Genealogists edited by Sharon DeBartolo Carmack and Erin Nevius (Family Tree Books)

• History of North Dakota and North Dakota Biography, 3 volumes, by Lewis F. Crawford (American Historical Society)

• Land in Her Own Name: Women as the Homesteaders in North Dakota by H. Elaine Lindgren (University of Oklahoma Press)

• North Central North Dakota Genealogical Record (Mouse River Loop Genealogical Society)

• North Dakota Cemetery Records, 32 volumes (Red River Valley Genealogical Society)

• North Dakota Place Names by Douglas A. Wick (Prairie House)

• Pioneers and Their Sons, 2 volumes, by George P. Aberle (Tumbleweed Press)

• Prairie Mosaic: An Ethnic Atlas of Rural North Dakota by William C. Sherman (Institute for Regional Studies)

• Reference Guide to North Dakota History and North Dakota Literature by Daniel Rylance and J.F.S. Smeall (University of North Dakota)

• Tracing Your Dakota Roots by Jo Ann B. Winistorfer and Cathy A. Langemo (Dakota Roots)

Organizations and Archives

• Fargo Public Library

102 Third St. N, Fargo, ND 58102, (701) 241-1472, <www.fargolibrary.org>

• Germans from Russia Heritage Society

1125 W. Turnpike Ave., Bismarck, ND 58501, (701) 223-6167, <www.grhs.com>

• Institute for Regional Studies and University Archives

North Dakota State University Library, Box 5599, Fargo, ND 58105, (701) 231-8914, <www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/ndirs>

• NARA Central Plains Region

2312 E. Bannister Road, Kansas City, MO 64131, (816) 268-8000, <archives.gov/central-plains/kansas-city>

• Red River Valley Genealogical Society

Box 9284, 112 N. University Drive, Suite L-116, Fargo, ND 58106, <www.redrivergenealogy.com>

• State Historical Society of North Dakota

State Archives and Historical Research Library, 612 E. Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505, (701) 328-2666, <www.state.nd.us/hist>

• University of North Dakota Chester Fritz Library

University Avenue and Centennial Drive, Stop 9000, Grand Forks, ND 58202, (701) 777-4625, <www.und.nodak.edu/dept/library>