Fargo (N.D.) Auditor’s Office Records, 1878-1904

Collection

Identifier: Mss 114

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

These Fargo, N.D. Auditor’s Office records apparently made their way to local historian and Fargo Forum columnist Roy Johnson. Likely he acquired the records as part of his research into the early years of Fargo’s history, possible to write a column in the Fargo Forum newspaper. There is no known article about the history of the early Fargo bridges that was published in the newspaper. The records have been organized into two series: Bridges and Subject Files. The Bridges Series contains the subscription lists for the construction of the bridges, various allowances for payment of construction, minutes of the joint bridge committee related correspondence. It also contains some interesting letterheads and early maps of Fargo-Moorhead. The records have been divided by bridge project and chronologically therein. The Subject Files Series consists of miscellaneous documents kept by the auditor’s office and preserved due to their early dates. They have been organized by subject. The Bills File contains various handwritten bills submitted by various local businesses and individuals for such services rendered as sitting on election boards, watching prisoners, boarding prisoners, and burying dead horses. The Licenses to Sell File contains handwritten items on letterhead and scraps of paper allowing various people to sell various items such as boots, clothes, or goods. The Miscellaneous File contains various handwritten and typewritten bills, correspondence, warrants and requests from lawyers. The Sewer Assessments File includes notices of special sewerage assessments, lists of lots covered, protests to the assessments, and a newspaper clipping. The Sewer Bills File contains bills, delivery orders, and an estimate relating to construction. The Steam Boiler Inspection File contains inspection reports for the City of Fargo by the Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company. The Waterworks Specifications File contains four undated documents on the proposed waterworks system including general report on the entire system, pumping engine specifications, labor and materials specifications, and the settling basin.

Dates

1878-1904

Creator

Fargo (N.D.). Auditor. (Organization)

Access

The collection is open under the rules and regulations of the Institute.

Copyrights

The copyrights are now in the public domain.

History

In October 1881 Fargo businessmen demanded a bridge across the Red River. G.J Keeney, J.G. Madland, C.A. Roberts were appointed to a committee to confer with Cass and Clay Counties and authorities from Moorhead. On November 7, 1881 the joint bridge committee was formed to consider building a bridge across the Red River. It consisted of J.G. Madland, C.A. Roberts, G.J. Keeney, A.J. Harwood and Randall Hunt of Fargo, and H.A. Bruns and John Lamb of Moorhead.

After disputes over the location of the bridge were settled it was decided that two bridges would be built over the Red River, one from Front Street, Fargo, to Main Street, Moorhead, constructed by Keepers and Riddell of Milwaukee, Wisconsin; the other, the Northern Pacific Avenue Bridge, to be constructed by the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron works of Leavenworth, Kansas. The money was raised by subscription and selling of bonds. In March of 1883 the joint committee consisted of P.H. Lamb, J.C. Truett, O.G. Beck, William Lloyd, C.H. Rommel, A.L. Stephens, Martin Hector, William O’Neill, G.J. Keeney, and J.J. Shotwell. The South Bridge was opened on February 14, 1884. The north bridge opened on May 16, 1884. See also, Vik, David R. Early Bridges of Moorhead and Fargo, 1870-1893, Master’s thesis, Moorhead State University, 1984. Inst. Rm. HE375.V53.