ALICE North Dakota Diamond Jubilee - JUNE 6-1 1975 1900 1975 ifjl + F Alice, North Dakota, 644 1900-1975. .A45 C' 2NORTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY BISMARCK 58505 December 28, 1971 NORTH DAKOTA STATE LIBRARY 3 3105 00009 3409 NORTH DAKOTA BOOK OR AUTHOR Dedication To the many people, men and women, who have walked the streets of Alice, who have operated the stores, elevators served on Boards tilled'the soil on all the farms, railroad men that have served Alit'e we dedicate this book. , , Each person, rich or poor, known or unknown has played an important role in telling the story of our community. North Dtktta Slat* Library Bismarck, N. D. 58505 Foreword The following pages tell the story of Alice and the surrounding community. This is not a complete history; it is more of an account of our town and community. We have tried to give you an idea of what life was like in the "early days" and our present day. We hope it will be referred to in the future. There was very little information written down on paper. Most of the parents told their children their experiences and somehow in the course of living it was forgotten. Memories sometimes fail and sometimes histories differ. If not every statement is accurate, we ask to be forgiven. We express our gratitude to the many people who helped gather information such as: Family histories, family pictures and those who helped in any way. We wish to thank the ladies on the History Committee who so generously helped with the typing, Mrs. Martin Maruska, Mrs. Clem Pollock, Mrs. Earl Habiger, Mrs. Lil Hager and Mrs. Marguerite Stangler. A special thanks to Harry Wadeson who spent countless days gathering information for the book of Alice. Also to Mr. and Mrs. Francis J. Hartl who gave so generously of their time and effort to put this book together. SPECIAL NOTE We wish to call your attention to the fact that this book has been reprinted due to typing errors. The corrections have been made for the reprint by Mrs. Lil Hager, Mrs. Francis Hartl and Mrs. Marguerite Stangler. We did the very best we could to correct all errors and please forgive us if we missed any errors or histories. Thank you. Mrs. Lil Hager Mrs. Francis Hartl Mrs. Marguerite Stangler Any omission of pictures or names in this publication was not intentional. It is impossible to have a book of this nature completely accurate when there are so many sources of information to gather material from. Thank you. Story of Alice, North Dakota The city of Alice is located in Clifton Township 138, rang 55, section Stangler delivered fresh meat to farmers in the area in a paneled 13 and 24. and in Eldred Township 138, range 54, Section 18 and 19, in wagon drawn by horses. Cass County, North Dakota. It was the SWV4 section of land that was In 1906 fire destroyed the butcher shop, drug store and harness homesteaded by Ed. Stangler, Dec 14, 1889. This property was sold to shop. The butcher shop was rebuilt by E.E. Stangler. It was made of Frank Blasl in November, 1891. It was plotted by Mr. Blasl in 1900 cement blocks, one story high and later a top was added for living when the Northern Pacific tracks were laid across the land. quarters. The building now houses the Alice Cafe. A hardware store The Northern Pacific Railroad Station was established in 1900 on was built by a Mr. Patterson from Sheldon, who sold it to Frank the SWU of Section 18-138-54. Alice was incorporated as a village in Salzwedel. Mr. Salzwedel operated the store until he retired and sold 1925 and had been given its name by R.B. Lewis, a Fargo Banker, and it to Emil Hayertz in 1948. one-time Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota, who named the The first and only doctor to locate in Alice was Dr. Sinclair He village "Alice" in honor of his wife and daughter. came in 1906 and stayed only a tew years. When he left he said The period of 1870-1900 was marked by a large number of "There's no use staying here, the people don't get sick often enough'" newcomers, who came primarily from Europe and settled in the upper Dr. Sinclair's office was in the Boehm building across the street and midwest of the "New World". They settled in this part of the country west of the hardware store. Also, in this building was Boehm's because of its fertile and rolling land. The prairie was flat and Millinery Shop, Leon Frost Carpenter Shop and later a harness shoo peaceful, land was available for homesteading and possible access for operated by G. A. Kapaun. The Boehm building was later destroyed by transportation. They saw a great potential for agriculture and an opportunity to develop one of the richest agricultural regions in the The first depot in Alice was a boxcar and was located northeast of world. the Monarch Elevator. Ed Pollock built the Gladstone Hotel and Wild animals once roamed the plains of North Dakota and Indians Livery Barn about 1906. It was operated by him and Gus Flath The hotel was destroyed by fire in 1916. lived on the windswept prairies. The pioneers came when there were no roads, no trees, no fences, no houses or telephones, where today we Oscar Dagman and Andrew Sletto were early lumber vard see prosperous looking homes and farms, fields of golden grain, operators. Early elevator operators were: William Cattnoueh H A livestock and other resources. These pioneers suffered through the Zeigler, C.F. Multz. D.A. Perry, F.F. Young, Mr. Lindsey Mr 'Trill' years; hardships brought on by drought, too much moisture, illness, Wade Maloney, Archie James, Joe Sheib, and John Williams and loneliness. By their faith in God, their courage and a great Operators of the Alice Pool Hall were: I.S. Rand Ed Hager F C Jensen. Nick Biever, Henry Hayertz, Vincent Blaske.Mr. and Mrs Ed determination to make a go of it they succeeded. Kraus. and Mr. and Mrs. Joe North. The Post Office at Alice was originally known as Peterson, N. D. It was a station on the Casselton-Marion Branch, about '2 mile west of its Early bankers were A. L.Bayley and Mr. Lowry. Early barbers present site. It was located on the John Wadeson farm in Clifton were Herman Petrich, Herman Mahlke, and Jim Easton Township and was named Peterson after an early settler in Howes Fred Gross operated the livery barn and Frank Schmidt was Township, Sonic Peterson. The postoffice was established in 1887 and employed by him. Other livery operators were Henry Winistorfer J. Madison was the first postmaster in 1893. It was discontinued on and Henry Hayertz. General Store operators were: John Wellentin and son, Joe; Otto Redetzke; H.J. Hansen; C.C. Weber- Kapaun January 12. 1900 and the town of Peterson became west half of the brothers, and Johnson brothers. Those stores sold everything needed newly established village of Alice and the postoffice was relocated by a family to furnish their home. Machinery dealers were- John there. Wellentin and son, Joe; Louie Tibezar, and J.B. Olson They sold The first buildings were built in 1901-02-03. The Pool Hall threshing machines and a complete line of farm machinery After Hotel was built by IS. Rand. The store across the street was built by J.B. Olson left the business, Francis Decker and Louie Tibezar took Wellentin and Guilford. The Wellentin store burned down in 1903 and in over. John Wellentin also sold buggies and automobiles The first 1909 a great fire burned down the Wellentin Implement Shop, the automobiles in Alice were owned by Leon Frost Frank Sal™,oH 1 Boehm building and the blacksmith shop. The other store was built by Otto Redetzke, and the Boehm family. aaizwedel, Otto Redetzke. the lumber yard was built by Chamberlin-Wallace The first depot agent in the present location was S G Guilford a Lumber Co. and the first bank was built by S. G. More of the First the first section foreman were Bert Shuch and Charley McDonmmh National Bank, Buffalo, N. D. Another bank was built by Ed Pierce Later depot agents were Milo Borderud, Harvey Fredrickson Frank of the Enderlin State Bank. This bank building was used for a school Clarens. and Francis Hayertz. ' ranK room Mrs Sophia Mueller, now living in Alice, was one of the pupils. The teacher. Nina O'Donnell, lived on the present Dimmer farm. The original Catholic church was built in 1903 n was , Alter the building was no longer used as a school house it became a and replaced by a larger and modern building in 195R Th M church was built in 1903 and Fellowship Hall was JZ^avian harness shop, run by Frank Hanish. To the west of the drug store t0 there was a butcher shop built by Otto Dahm. Mr. Dahm and E.E. structure in 1964, while the present Alice Town Hall was bu it ^ Story of Alice, North Dakota The city of Alice is located in Clifton Township 138, rang 55, section Stangler delivered fresh meat to farmers in the area in a paneled 13 and 24, and in Eldred Township 138, range 54, Section 18 and 19, in wagon drawn by horses. Cass County, North Dakota. It was the SWV( section of land that was In 1906 fire destroyed the butcher shop, drug store and harness homesteaded by Ed.