Ryder, North Dakota

Ryder, North Dakota
City
Location of Ryder, North Dakota
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
County	Ward
Area
• Total	0.3 sq mi (0.9 km2)
• Land	0.3 sq mi (0.8 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	2,103 ft (641 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	92
• Density	282.9/sq mi (109.2/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	58779
Area code	701
FIPS code	38-69460Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1031059Template:GR

Ryder is a city in Ward County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 92 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area. Ryder was founded in 1906.

Geography

Ryder is located at 47°55′2″N 101°40′25″W (47.917309, -101.673557)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²), of which, 0.3 square miles (0.9 km²) of it is land and 3.03% is water.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 92 people, 44 households, and 23 families residing in the city. The population density was 282.9 people per square mile (107.6/km²). There were 67 housing units at an average density of 206.1/sq mi (78.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.83% White, 1.09% Native American and 1.09% Asian.

There were 44 households out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% were married couples living together, 6.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 43.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.09 and the average family size was 2.83.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 18.5% from 25 to 44, 44.6% from 45 to 64, and 10.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 130.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 115.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $26,875, and the median income for a family was $27,188. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $14,792 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,497. There were 18.5% of families and 30.1% of the population living below the poverty line, including 55.6% of under eighteens and 28.6% of those over 64.

History

History of Ryder

A history of the early days of Ryder would be incomplete without the mentioning of “Old Ryder”. It began as Centerville about 4 miles southeast of the present site. Homesteaders had flocked into this area, and it was necessary to stand in line for several hours to file on a quarter section of land. It was well on its way to becoming a thriving city. Ed Fredeen had circulated a petition among the new residents to establish this post office. The first name selected for this town was Centerville, but it was rejected by the post office department as it was already being used. The next submitted name, DeKalb, was likewise rejected. So, how was the name Ryder chosen? The story is that when the postal representative came out to establish the new post office, it was winter, and the nearest railroad was Minot. He had to travel overland some forty miles by team and sled during the cold weather. A Mr. Arthur R. Ryder was a partner in a Minot hardware store at the time, and the postal official either already was, or became acquainted with Mr. Ryder, and borrowed his buffalo coat for the trip. On his return, the grateful government man tried to pay Mr. Ryder for it use, but payment was graciously declined. As a consequence, this government man proposed the name of Ryder for the new post office. The name was accepted and survived the 1906 move to the new town site. Austin Grey was the first postmaster of the Ryder Post Office. Mr. Grey also erected a 2-story hotel and established the first store. During the summer of 1903 and under the persuasion of Ed Fredeen, Lloyd Wells from Souris started the Ryder News. with Guy Humphreys as the first editor. H.C. Miller opened a state bank and was the first cashier. E.E. Fredeen had the first contract to carry the mail from Minot to Ryder. Mrs. Fredeen had a boarding house, several blacksmith shops were run by J.F. Smith and the Casley Brothers, John S. Johnson had a real estate business, S.A. Olsen ran a grocery store and A.C.O. Lomen was a hardware dealer as some of the first businesses in Old Ryder. The 4th of July of 1903 was celebrated in the community and a baseball game between Ryder and Hiddenwood was played with Ryder winning. A Presbyterian Church was organized with Mr. Evans as the first minister. In the spring of 1906 Ed Fredeen acted as an agent for the Soo Rail Road and purchased the present town site from Mr. Bailey, a homesteader who had seeded a flax crop on the NW1/4 of section 10 in the same township as the old town was located. Mr. Bailey never got to harvest his flax field because on July 19, 1906 the sale of town lots of present day Ryder were platted and sold on this flax field. Lots were sold to the highest bidder with the auction being conducted by Mr. Campbell, representing the town site company. Any amounts received over a predetermined level went into a park fund, and the sum of $3600 was acquired allowing for Ryder’s nice park. The biggest bidding event was between H.C. Miller and August Peterson for the corner lot which became Lot 9 on Block 13. Mr. Miller won and began the First State Bank there, and the last bank of Ryder called the Ryder Exchange was located there. Mr. Peterson bought Lot 7 of today’s Block 10 which was across the street and started the First National Bank. The old business places were moved from Old Ryder with new business places established. It is believed there were 4 banks, 4 hardware stores, 6 general stores, 3 livery barns, 5 hotels, 5 restaurants, 6 grain elevators, 1 blacksmith shop, 1 photograph gallery, 1 furniture store, 1 barber shop, 1 drug store, 3 doctors, 1 dentist, 2 lawyers and 3 churches. The first restaurant to be opened after the lot sales was built by Kelley Bros. with Mrs. Pat Kelley as cook. In October of 1906 Ed Fredeen began the construction of his hotel which became the most famous holstery in this part of the state. Nothing was overlooked that would aid in the comfort of the guests. The office was furnished with comfortable chairs and marble tables, one of which was rescued from the fire in 1947 and is displayed in one of the Ryder Museums. There were 27 bedrooms. Ed Fredeen’s great-nephew and wife, Kent and Laural Fredeen of Chisholm, MT visited present Ryder in 2003 searching for more information about Ed Fredeen and family. Because of this, a file of information about the Fredeen family was developed and is located on this marble table in that museum. It was not until November of 1906 that the railroad steel reached Ryder, and the first train arrived on November 7, 1906. The citizens thought their troubles with transporting coal and supplies were over, but that was not to prove true. A blizzard soon blocked the line completely and no effort was made to open the line until spring. In the meantime supplies became low in all lines as all supplies had to be brought overland from Minot or Garrison. Toward spring the railroad sent a rotary snowplow to open the line, and when the train arrived in Ryder, it carried one carload of groceries---bottled beer. However, the citizens were so happy to see the first train that they threw a welcoming party for the train crew which delayed them several hours before moving west. This resulted in the superintendent of the division discharging the entire crew. It took a petition signed by nearly everyone in town to get the men reinstated to their jobs. In those first years of town celebrations it was customary to bring a number of Native Americans from the Fort Berthold Reservation to the town to help. They would pitch their tents in a semi-circular position and were provided with a young steer to butcher and serve a portion to each group by having a crier call out a name of a squaw in turn to come and carry her share to her tent. One of the features of such celebrations was a dance in which the women would form a circle and shuffle around to the music of a chant. Occasionally they would draw some man into the circle and make him dance with them; but, then he could get free by making a small donation. Since those earlier doings, the community has attempted to organize a yearly picnic in the park with larger events on anniversaries of the alumni and town. In the past years it was held on the 3rd week-end of July but since 2004 it has been moved to the 2nd weekend in July and will continue to be celebrated on that date in future years. The 100th Celebration will be on July 7,8, & 9 of 2006 with just the picnic on July 9 of 2005. It was not until May 8, 1907 that the first meeting of a newly elected board of trustees was held. The records show that the meeting took place in the bank building , presumably John Tucker’s First State Bank, run by H.C. Miller, as he was also one of the first trustees. Other trustees were R.L. Furlong, chairman, and H. E. Johnson. Aleck Haroldson, a bank employee, was the clerk with George Krueger as treasurer, B.A. Dickinson as assessor, Lewis Larson as justice and Martin Gettle as marshal. On July 5, 1907 I.E. Officer was granted franchise for a telephone system which was set up at Ryder and Plaza. It was called the Queen City Telephone Co. This company lasted until 1954 when it was sold to the Reservation Mutual Aid Telephone Co. at Parshall. On July 25, 1907 the Village ordinances were adopted. Elections were held every year in March until 1966. Then they were held every two years which is today’s method. In about 1910 Ryder’s Commercial Club was instrumental in getting the north section of the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation opened up for homesteading. Probably the most active workers in this movement we might mention were B.A. Dickinson and Ed. E. Fredeen. A congressman and a member of the Department of the Interior were brought to Ryder and entertained at the Fredeen Hotel and were given all the information at hand relative to the reservation. As a result, a bill was introduced in Congress for such an opening and a committee named to appraise the lands to be opened. B.A. Dickinson headed the committee, assisted by a government agent and one Native American from the reservation. After this was accomplished, the date was set for registrations for those who wished to get a chance to draw a claim. Thousands came from all over the nation to register with most of them going to Minot and very few to Ryder which had promoted the whole thing. Later a drawing was held and the winners notified to come and file if they wished. It wasn’t long before all the claims were taken up. It was not until 1957 that a municipal sewer system was installed. In 1962 work started on the water system with a $102,000.00 loan from Farmers Home Administration. This was the first such loan to a municipality made in North Dakota, and possibly the first in the nation. It was fully paid off in early 1981. A paving project got underway in 1980. Because of the decline in enrollment, the Ryder and Makoti School systems joined together in 1970 to become North Shore School. So, Ryder High's last graduating class was the 1969 group. The first 6 grades are taught at Ryder while the grades 7-12 are taught in Makoti. Then, in 2003 this school system joined with Berthold and Plaza to become the Lewis and Clark School District. There are grade schools at Ryder, Plaza, and Berthold while the high schools are at only Makoti and Berthold. The history of Ryder is not complete without praise given to the early day businessmen who arrived at or within a few years of the founding of the town and stayed to make the town successful. Many of those were listed by Ralph Larson in his town up- date in the Ryder Diamond Jubilee book of 1981. At this time we wish to add others who since had done much for the town of Ryder. This includes people such as Ralph Larson, Ted Simmons, Harold Neukom, Don Morris, Mel Nelson, George Officer, Lloyd Bofenkamp, Donald Mueller, James Erb, and Larry Petz to mention a few.

As published on: http://web.restel.net/~lacnd/RyderND/RyderHistory.html