Early businesses helped build many of the small towns along the railroad in North Dakota. General stores, banks, newspapers, post offices – every little town had something.
In Hebron, North Dakota, the most notable was its clay brick plant that gave the town its nickname “The Brick City.” When the brick production started back in 1904, horses and wagons transported the clay. Later trains hauled in the material. Over time, the plant grew. Just under five million bricks were produced in 1914 – and more than eight million bricks in 1916.
Hebron also had a few early newspapers, including “The Howler,” which was a hand-printed sheet. As the owner said, it was published “semi-occasionally, or whenever we feel that way.”
A German-language newspaper got its start in Mandan in 1898, then moved to New Salem, and finally relocated in Hebron. Other papers included the Hebron Tribune and Hebron Herald. The Herald was briefly Morton County’s official newspaper.
Another early business was, of course, the post office, which moved from the Knife River railroad siding to Hebron on this date in 1885. The first five postmasters operated out of their homes or businesses.
Hebron can trace its roots to the Knife River siding, which was built as the Northern Pacific. The first building at the Hebron town site was an 18x80 foot structure that contained the land office, railroad telegraph and temporary lodging for new families. Early records of Hebron were lost in two fires, but we know the town incorporated in 1916. Hebron’s first mayor was a bachelor from New York who also spent time as the town’s police magistrate, dabbled in investments, practiced law, and collected local artifacts.
Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura
Sources:
N.a. (1960). Hebron’s heritage: A history 1885-1960. N.p.
Wick, D.A. (1989). North Dakota place names. Bismarck, ND: Prairie House
hebronbrick.com/about-hebron-brick-company/
