Welcome To Grand Forks County North Dakota History and Genealogy Presented by North Dakota Genealogy Trails a part of Genealogy Trails History Group Volunteers Dedicated to Free Genealogy This Site is Available for Adoption Our goal is to help you track your ancestors through time by transcribing genealogical and historical data for the free use of all researchers. We're looking for folks who share our dedication to putting data online and are interested in helping this project be as successful as it can be. If you are interested in joining Genealogy Trails, view our Volunteer Page for further information and then contact Kim. (Enough knowledge to make a basic webpage and a desire to transcribe data is required WANT TO HELP? Check your attics! Dust off your family scrapbooks! We're looking for DATA for this site!!! If you are interested in adding your families' information this website, Email Us. We'll be happy to help your families' obituaries, news items and other historical data find a home here at North Dakota Genealogy Trails, where it will remain free for all to view.   We regret that we are unable to perform personal research for you. All data we come across will be added to this site. We thank you for visiting and hope you'll come back again to view the updates we make to this site. Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Grand Forks County. Located on the western banks of the Red River of the North in an extremely flat region known as the Red River Valley, the city is prone to flooding and was struck by the devastating Red River Flood of 1997. Originally called Les Grandes Fourches by French fur traders, Grand Forks was founded in 1870 by steamboat captain Alexander Griggs and incorporated on February 22, 1881. Its location at the fork of the Red River and the Red Lake River gives the city its name. Prior to settlement by Europeans or Americans, the area where the city now sits — at the forks of the Red River and Red Lake River — had been an important meeting and trading point for Native Americans. Early French explorers, fur trappers, and traders called the area Les Grandes Fourches meaning "The Grand Forks". By the 1740s, Les Grandes Fourches was an important trading post for French fur trappers. A U.S. post office was established on the site on June 15, 1870 and the name was changed to "Grand Forks." Alexander Griggs, a steamboat captain, is regarded as being "The Father of Grand Forks." Griggs' steamboat froze in the Red River on a voyage in late 1870, forcing the captain and his crew to spend the winter camping at Grand Forks. Griggs platted the community in 1875 and Grand Forks was officially incorporated on February 22, 1881. The city quickly grew after the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in 1880 and the Northern Pacific Railway in 1887. In 1883, the University of North Dakota was established, six years before North Dakota was formally recognized as an independent state born from the Dakota Territory. [Source: wikipedia.org] County Seat: Grand Forks from 1875 to the present. Townships: *Agnes *Allendale *Americus *Arvilia *Avon *Bentru *Blooming *Brenna *Chester *Elkmount *Elm Grove *Fairfield *Falconer *Ferry *Gilby *Grace *Grand Forks *Hegton *Inkster *Johnstown *Lakeville *Larimore *Levant *Lind *Logan Center *Loretta *Mekinock *Michigan *Moraine *Niagara *Northwood *Oakville *Pleasant View *Plymouth *Rye *Strabane *Turtle River *Union *Walle *Washington *Wheatfield Cities: *Emerado *Gilby *Grand Forks *Inkster *Larimore *Manvel *Niagara *Northwood *Reynolds (small part of city extends into Traill County) *Thompson Other Communities: *Arvilla *Mekinock CDP *Grand Forks AFB   Online Data Biographies Births Cemeteries Census Church Histories/Records County History County Records Death Records Banks Ghost Towns Marriages Military Newspapers Obituaries Mortality Schedules Wills/Legal Records Website Updates: April 2012- Official Directory of County Officers-Lots of new Bios some for J.W. Smith, Elling K. Spoonheim, Jocob S. Eshelman, Judge C.F. Templeton, Willis A. Joy, Edward J. Lander, Abraham Abrahamsen, Dr. Robert D. Campbell, James Elton, Dr. John D. Taylor, obits and Marriage news Announcements- History Of Union National Bank Mar 2012: Marriage announcement for FALLEN; Sick list news item for ILSTAD Previous Updates: IRWIN obit, Newspaper Gleanings: Crime; Gossip, Sick List, WIRTH obit, BIRKHOLZ bio, Weather News Item for Tornado of 1887, Index to 1890 Veterans Census; Biographies for BOND, BRONSON, FISK, HJELMSTAD, KYLLO, O'CONNOR, TAYLOR, TRAGETON, TURNER SEARCH OUR SITES Surrounding Counties Walsh County (north) Polk County, Minnesota (east) Traill County (southeast) Steele County (southwest) Nelson County (west)   Join our Genealogy Trails Western States Mailing List to get email notices when our county sites are updated. 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