Contents
Series
Scope and Contents
From the Collection:
The City of Fargo Inspections Dept. Records contain files and documents pertaining to the city’s Board of Adjustment for the time period of approximately 1948 through 1971, with the bulk of the information applying to the years 1948 through 1956. This collection also contains numerous legal documents, sketches, and architectural drawings pertaining to Fargo’s residential and commercial dwellings.
The collection consists of seven series: Board of Adjustment, Applications and Agreements, Temporary Housing Agreements, Building Inspections, Health and Sanitation Officers’ Correspondence, Architectural Specifications, and Architectural Drawings.
The Board of Adjustment Series has been arranged into four subseries: Ledgers, Topical, Residential and Business Dwellings, and General Board of Adjustment. It contains correspondence; legal documents; sketches, drawings, and maps; and, other documents from 1948-1956. During this time period, the Board had several functions, including the authorization and subsequent issuing of building permits, and the conducting of hearings regarding appeals and petitions for such things as variance in building restrictions and changes in zoning.
The Ledgers Subseries contains one building permit ledger covering the time period of approximately 1962 through 1971. It contains the building permit number, as well as the address, building contractor, owner, and the type of building, i.e., apartment, duplex, etc. Another section of the ledger contains contractor’s permits to use L.P. gas for construction, and a final section contains NSP gas affidavits, which include NSP number, address, owner, heating contractor, and heating permit number.
The Topical Subseries contains documents and correspondence relating to the Oak Manor Second Edition for March 19, 1969, and construction of the St. Luke’s School of Nursing dormitory residence in 1956.
The Residential and Business Dwellings Subseries contains listings of temporary housing, including basements, garages, shacks, and trailers. The subseries is broken down by location, North Fargo and South Fargo. Within each folder, there is a typed listing entitled North Side (or South Side, depending on the folder) Temporary Housing, which is further broken down into Basement Dwellings or Basements, Buildings, Garages, Trailers, Shacks, and Miscellaneous. Each of the folders also contains the original hand written list, from which the typed list was composed. The South Side folder contains an additional hand written list entitled Temporary Permits - South Side, which consists of a mixture of trailer, basement, cabin, garage, quonset, and other miscellaneous temporary dwellings. A final folder in this subseries is one which contains two handwritten listings of new and completed basement dwelling for both North and South Fargo.
The Board of Adjustment Subseries includes general correspondence and other papers. It is arranged chronologically, beginning with 1953 and ending with 1956. Of particular interest and depth is the legal documentation and correspondence relating to the paving of the Red Owl Parking Lot in Fargo.
The Applications and Agreements Series is divided into three folders, with each containing information pertaining to the years 1946-1948. While the information in each folder is arranged chronologically in date order from oldest to newest, all three folders still contain information for the years 1946-1948. This is because some of the legal proceedings took about two years from start to finish, and the date that is used for chronological arrangement within each folder is the date of the most recent document pertaining to an individual or business. This is usually the agreement for housing or a temporary housing permit. And, it is these permits, agreements, applications, and correspondence from various individuals and businesses which comprise the contents of the files in this series.
The Temporary Housing Agreements Series contains an alphabetical listing by last name of the individual or business applicant for temporary housing agreements. The initial folder in this series contains an alphabetical name index of A-Z, with each subsequent folder devoted to one, two, or three letters of the alphabet. The Temporary Housing Agreements files came to us with this superimposed alphabetical order, and we therefore kept them in this order. All of the files contain temporary housing agreements for the years 1946-1949.
The Building Inspections Series is divided into two subseries: Hotel and Boarding House, and Correspondence. The Hotel and Boarding House Subseries contains Fargo Fire Department reports on inspections of hotels and boarding houses in Fargo. The inspections were all done during March of 1948. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by name of hotel, with the information within each file also arranged alphabetically by hotel name. Each inspection contains a description and arrangement of the building, as well as fire and life hazards. There is also a listing of recommendations and a summary at the end of the report. Some notable Fargo hotels and boarding houses within this subseries are the Broadway Hotel, the Great Northern Boarding House, the Fargo Union Mission, the Fargoan Hotel, the Franklin Hotel, the Metropole Hotel, and the Salvation Army Hotel.
The Correspondence Subseries contains correspondence regarding insurance company fire inspections of various businesses in Fargo. Included are correspondence to and regarding Fargo Aircraft, the N.P. Building, Edwards Building, Kaufman Building, Stern Building, Huntington Building, Pioneer Life Building, and the Donaldson Hotel Building.
The Health and Sanitation Officers’ Correspondence Series contains correspondence sent out by Fargo’s Senior Sanitarian, C.L. Bradley, on August 8, 1951. It also includes several files of correspondence sent out from 1950-1953 by Fargo’s health officer, A.A. Nichols, MD. The files are arranged in alphabetical order by last name of the correspondent, with multiple files of a correspondent arranged in chronological order. Most of the correspondence was sent to individuals in Fargo for violation of city health codes, particularly ones relating to sewage and improperly ventilated sleeping areas.
The Architectural Specification Series contains specification descriptions, books, and legal information for eight buildings in Fargo. There is a legal description for S & L Tire. The one sheet describes what is
needed in the building, such as additional exits and a floor plan drawn to scale. There are also two specification descriptions, one of which is for The Texas Company (Texaco). These three sheets highlight specifications for asphalt concrete driveways and blacktop service areas for the Texaco station in Fargo. The other one contains five sheets with the specifications for plumbing, heating, and wiring for the addition to the Fargo city warehouse.
The rest of this series contains specification books for John S. Johnson’s Automobile Repair Shop, highlighting general contracting and plumbing specifications; the specifications of labor and material for the installing of storage vaults in the basement of Mr. George Hoenck’s store; the general specifications of the Co-operative Garage; the general contract specifications for the One Story Picture House; and, the specifications for a store front at S. Simonson and Company. Each specification book, specification description, or legal description is accompanied by an architectural drawing in that series.
The Architectural Drawings Series (Oversize collection 3) contains drawings of commercial buildings and apartment complexes in Fargo that are no longer in existence. These drawings consist of blueprints or sketches of the various buildings. Some notable buildings contained within this series are the F.W. Woolworth Company, Corwin-Churchill Motors, the Crane Company Warehouse, Simonson Lumber and Hardware, Standard Oil Company, Crane Johnson Laboratories, the Fargo city warehouse addition, Moving Pictures Theatre, The Texas Company (Texaco), Butler Manufacturing Company, S & L Tire, Interior Lumber, State Theatre, Grand Theater, Nash Finch Company, KFGO Radio Station, and the Federal Land Bank. For a detailed listing of each building, please consult the box and folder listing.
The drawings within this series span the time period from 1916 through 1984, with the majority of them being done in the 1920s through the 1940s. Some local Fargo architects’ drawings included in this series are W. D. Gillespie, Joseph E. Rosatti, E. George F. Dippell, William F. Kurke, and O.A. Braseth.
Dates
- 1948-1971
Access
The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.
Extent
From the Collection: 1 Linear Feet (1 linear feet)
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Creator
- From the Collection: Fargo (N.D.). Inspections Dept. (Organization)
Repository Details
Part of the Institute for Regional Studies Repository
Contact:
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu
West Building N
3551 7th Avenue North
Fargo North Dakota 58102 United States
ndsu.archives@ndsu.edu