The little towns of far northwestern North Dakota have seen ups and downs over the years, but a rich history, nonetheless. Towns such as Zahl, Appam, Alamo and Corinth along the Great Northern Railroad claimed decent populations in their early years – from 100 to 200 people a century ago to only a handful in some places today. It’s a remote area of North Dakota, about 30 miles north of Williston, where even radio signals can be dodgy.
Much of the local history is rooted in the old village of Cottonwood Lake, built in 1904 on the banks of the lake of the same name. It was renamed Alamo when the railroad came through and the town moved a bit to the west to be adjacent to the tracks.
Nearby Corinth, sprang up as a railroad town in 1916, as did Appam. Corinth It was a “thriving” little village at first, with more than 100 people in 1920, but it declined over the following decades. Its elevator burned in 1966, and the post office closed on this date in 1969 with mail routed to nearby Alamo. Not long after, in 1970, the Lutheran church closed. It was much later that Appam’s post office closed, with mail also routed to Alamo.
Though the towns have declined, memories still remain, along with shuttered brick schools and boarded up buildings. Signposts in Appam indicate the purposes the old buildings served. The area was featured in a photo essay by “National Geographic” called “The Emptied Prairie.” That spread frustrated state officials over its portrayal of North Dakota as abandoned. Especially for people who still call that corner of North Dakota “home.”
Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura
Sources:
Wick, D.A. (1989). North Dakota place names. Bismarck, ND: Prairie House
Alamo – Appam – Corinth, North Dakota golden jubilee 1916-1966.
twincities.com/2008/06/10/national-geographic-writer-tells-north-dakotans-to-get-over-it/
duluthnewstribune.com/news/2255262-north-dakotans-assail-national-geographic-story-emptied-prairie
