Some Historical Facts To Know About Wahpeton

By Harold Meyer


Located somewhere in the North Dakota region of the United States of America lies a city in the Richland County along the Bois de Sioux River and the Otto Tail River. This city is known as Wahpeton and happens to date back to even the 1700s when the first European settler came to the land and decided to explore it. Here is a brief history of this city and how it became a very populous city that is found in the United States.

The actual founding of the city was sometime during the year 1869. Although the city itself was founded during this time, it was in 1767 that the area was first discovered by a European by the name of Jonathan Carver. Carver was tasked to look for the Northwest Passage but his travels paved way for more Europeans to flock to the area.

After the Civil War, the small city was commissioned by the United States Government to be developed. This project was spearheaded by JW Blanding, who was the first person to discover that the Dakota land was fertile and good for growing crops. He and is family then decided to migrate over to Dakota and have a home in that land.

While there were many developments being made to the land by the government in Dakota, it was only in 1869 when the town had an actual community inside. The first settler was actually Morgan Rich in which he attracted other settlers who decided to make a community named Richville in his honor.

Eventually, the town changed its name from Richville to Chahinkapa sometime in the year 1871. After some years passed by, the community was turned into a county named the Chahinkapa County. Just for one to have an idea, Chahinkapa means the end of the woods, which was the name chosen because of the forest areas that surrounded the county during that time.

Somewhere along the line, they changed the name of the county to Richland County, based on the name of the founder again. After that, it then changed its name to the name that it has right now. This name was actually based off the name of the Wakhpetonwan tribe which was the tribe of local Indians that first resided somewhere in the Lake Mille Lacs.

In 1872, the development of this city even sped up further with the new railroads built to cater to travelers. The economy of the city boomed because there were now more freight deliveries and tourists coming in. Not only these but also more settlers wanted to migrate there so that they could start a new life in a brand new city.

Today, this city is booming having several large manufacturing plants located in it. Further development of the city was implemented when the voters approved of a one and a half percent tax that goes directly to improving the city. Because of that, this city is a great attraction for a lot of tourists and wonderful home for the residents as it is very livable and beautiful.




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