Tower City, North Dakota

Tower City, North Dakota
City
Location of Tower City, North Dakota
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
Counties	Cass, Barnes
Area
• Total	2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
• Land	2.1 sq mi (5.4 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	1,171 ft (357 m)
Population  (2000)
• Total	252
• Density	121.2/sq mi (46.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	58071
Area code	701
FIPS code	38-79340Template:GR
GNIS feature ID	1036349Template:GR

Tower City is a city in Barnes and Cass counties in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The population was 252 at the 2000 census. Tower City was founded in 1879.

Geography

Tower City is located at 46°55′24″N 97°40′30″W (46.923335, -97.675109)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.1 square miles (5.4 km²), all land.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 252 people, 107 households, and 75 families residing in the city. The population density was 121.2 people per square mile (46.8/km²). There were 113 housing units at an average density of 54.3/sq mi (21.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.81% White, and 1.19% from two or more races.

There were 107 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.8% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 26.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 4.4% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 104.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,607, and the median income for a family was $41,250. Males had a median income of $26,806 versus $21,875 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,652. About 5.1% of families and 6.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.7% of those under the age of eighteen and 4.9% of those sixty five or over.

History

Founding

The area in Cass and Barnes Counties that eventually became Tower City was purchased in the 1860's by the Northern Pacific Railroad, for the purpose of constructing a northern transcontinental railroad. Difficulties in management and the influence of the Panic of 1873 led to the railroad seeking bankruptcy protection in June of 1875. A member of the board of directors of the company, Pennsylvania attorney Charlemagne Tower purchased huge tracts of the railroad's lands in Minnesota, Washington, and North Dakota.

In 1878, a man named George Ellsbury, a former artist for Harper's Weekly and Leslie's Illustrated Magazine turned real estate agent, came to Tower's lands in Cass and Barnes Counties, ND. Convinced that the area then known as Spring Tank would be the ideal setting for a community, Ellsbury contacted Tower about purchasing the site. Tower then hired Ellsbury as his land agent for this area, offering him a 5% commission on all land sold. Ellisbury acquired Spring Tank by January 1879, and laid out the town that came to be known as Tower City, after Ellsbury's benefactor. Tower had written Ellsbury requesting that he name the town after himself instead, but that request was turned down.