City of Kindred

A Dedication to the Pioneers

The deep hush hovered over the wide, wide plain as the long, lush grasses whispered softly to one another. For centuries it was thus. Then suddenly the silence was broken by the creak and groan of the great wheels of the conestoga wagons as they lumbered across the Red River and the Sheyenne. The plains rippled their welcome to the intruders. There is room enough for all, they proclaimed.

Some arrivers looked hungrily upon the treelessness of the prairie. This is Utopia, they exclaimed. "Here anything will grow without effort. We will return in silks and satins, our pockets lined with gold." Some others, more skeptical, looked deeper and saw the moisture standing upon the surface of the land, held there by the profusion of grasses. They shook their heads. "It's too wet. Nothing will grow. It's like a vast swamp." Still others, wiser by far, looked deeper yet - at the rich, sweet-smelling earth. They knew that this was their new home- that here unstinted effort would be bountifully rewarded.

They rolled up their sleeves and they planted their seeds. And the roots reached far into the fertile soil and was nourished. They rolled up their sleeves yet higher and built their homes, their churches, their schools and their town. These were the roots of a solid community, an uncluttered way of life.

They worked, planned, struggled, prayed, wept and laughed. And they built. They lost loved ones in raging blizzards and relentless diphtheria epidemics and comforted one anther. They sowed by hand, harvested by hand and threshed their grain by the trample of sturdy oxen feet. They made their own clothing, grew their own food, ground their own grain and yet had time for neighborliness - time to help the sick neighbor, to welcome the lonely stranger and to chatter light-heartedly with friends.

No longer do they sow by hand or harvest by hand. No longer do they live in isolation. The modern farms, our modern city, our churches, our school, our business community are testimony that not only have they PRESERVED THE PAST BUT HAVE DEVELOPED THE FUTURE.

The village of Kindred was founded in 1880 and named after William Kindred who had purchased land from the Northern Pacific Railroad. Kindred became a city in 1949.

In 1871, the Ole J. Hertsgaard family was the first Kindred settlers, establishing a dwelling adjacent to the Sheyenne River. Many of the early settlers came from Norway and was often referred to as a second Norway because so many of its townspeople were of Norwegian ancestry.

The first school was organized in 1875. In 1896 a two-story frame building was built to serve as the school.

The first store in Kindred was owned by John Rustad who immigrated to the United States from Norway. The Kindred State Bank, established in 1898, was a welcome addition to the village.

In 1874 a post office was established in a log house about three miles southwest of Kindred.  The Kindred Farmers Elevator Company was incorporated in 1904. A light and power company was organized in the 1920’s.

It was May 28, 1901 when the BIG FIRE destroyed nearly half of Kindred's business district. The fire started in the butcher shop. With no firefighting equipment available in that day, the fire raged until it had destroyed 22 businesses.

Photos

Information concerning the history of Kindred was obtained from “Going Places” magazine (Dill, 1993), Kindred Diamond Jubilee (1955), and Kindred Centennial booklet (1980).

There is something in the atmosphere or in the fertile soil of this community placed there by nature’s God, which makes the roots of plants and men alike grow deep into this productive soil. It may be through this influence that a spirit of helpfulness and cooperation between neighbors has been fostered in our midst. This spirit has spread throughout the city of Kindred and the entire area.