Bicentennial Story #81-Watford City

Bicentennial Story #81-Watford City

Description of the naming of the town of Watford City.

8/21/1975

Father Louis Pfaller

This recording cannot be copied or reproduced without the written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center. This recording may be freely used for education uses, so long as it is not altered in any way. No commercial reproduction or distribution of this recording file is permitted without written permission of the Dickinson Museum Center.

mp3

audio reel, analog, 1/4 inch polyester tape

English

BS-081

Watford City, ND

Copyright Stark County Historical Society and Dickinson Museum Center

The largest town in McKenzie County was first called BANKS for the coal banks there. In 1913, Dr. V.G. Morris renamed it WATFORD for his former home in Ontario, which in turn was probably named for Watford in Hartfordshire, England. Because of the confusion with the name Wolford, a town in Pierce County, North Dakota, railroad officials added the word "City" to Watford, and the postal department mad this official in 1916
This is the terminus of a railroad branch line and is the trade center of McKenzie County, which is almost surrounded by rivers and so is often called "Island Empire."

This is Bicentennial Story No. 81, prepared by Father Louis Pfaller, for the Stark County Historical Society.

Williams, Origin of N.D. Place Names, p. 169

Sound recordings

1:19

128kbps

1970 1979

Bicentennial tape #5, Bicentennial stories 67-86