Marmarth is a city in Slope County, North Dakota in the United States. The population was 140 at the 2000 census. Marmarth was founded in 1907.
Geography
Marmarth is located at 46°17′41″N 103°55′23″W / 46.29472°N 103.92306°W / 46.29472; -103.92306 (46.294693, -103.923037).[3]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.6 km²), all of it land.
History
The city of Marmarth was established in fall of 1907. Before 1907, the site was known as "Neva". That name was in honor of the first postmistress, Miss Neva Hughes. When the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (aka Milwaukee Road) reached the site of the town, it was renamed for a granddaughter of the president of the company, Mr. Albert J. Earling. The cities of Earling, Iowa, and Ismay, Montana also owe their names to Mr. Earling.
The Milwaukee Road reached the Little Missouri River in the fall of 1907. The village was originally located on the east side of the Little Missouri River. It remained there until 1908 when a permanent bridge was completed. It was then relocated to the west side of the river, because the rancher that owned the land on the east side of the Little Missouri River would not sell for a reasonable price.
Dakota, a fossilized Edmontosaurus, a type of duckbill dinosaur, was discovered near Marmarth in 1999 by Tyler Lyson.[4] The fossil is unique in that soft tissue, skin, and muscle were fossilized as well as bone.
Marmarth is in some respects a fossil itself, as it offers a well-preserved example of a common phenomenon of the Great Plains—a once-booming town that has dwindled to a fraction of its former size. Marmarth experienced explosive growth in the decade following its founding in 1907. The town grew quickly to serve the hundred of homesteaders who flooded into the area. As it happened, the first two decades of the 20th Century were unusually wet, and the new settlers reaped harvests of wheat on a scale that promised to turn even owners of modest farms into wealthy men.[5] By 1920, Marmarth had 1,318 inhabitants.[6] The inhabitants, looking forward to a future of boundless possibilities, established an auditorium, a theater, a large train station, a newspaper, and even installed paved sidewalks.
By the 1920s, though, a combination of the end of the agricultural boom occasioned by World War I and a return to more normal (i.e., drier) climatic conditions drove many of the settlers from the farms. The town's population had fallen by nearly half by the 1930 census, and continued to decline thereafter. By 2000, Marmarth's population of 140 was barely more than 10% of its population in the 1920s. The auditorium, theater, and paved sidewalks resemble in some ways the ruins of an ancient civilization, relics of a time when the future was limitless, and further growth seemed assured.[7]
Demographics
| Historical populations |
| Census |
Pop. |
|
%± |
| 1920 |
1,318 |
|
—
|
| 1930 |
721 |
|
−45.3% |
| 1940 |
626 |
|
−13.2% |
| 1950 |
469 |
|
−25.1% |
| 1960 |
319 |
|
−32.0% |
| 1970 |
247 |
|
−22.6% |
| 1980 |
190 |
|
−23.1% |
| 1990 |
144 |
|
−24.2% |
| 2000 |
140 |
|
−2.8% |
| Est. 2008 |
119 |
|
−15.0% |
As of the census[1] of 2000, there were 140 people, 66 households, and 35 families residing in the city. The population density was 55.2 people per square mile (21.4/km²). There were 101 housing units at an average density of 39.8/sq mi (15.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.29% White, and 0.71% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.71% of the population.
There were 66 households out of which 21.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% were married couples living together, 9.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.5% were non-families. 42.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.12 and the average family size was 2.78.
In the city the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 5.0% from 18 to 24, 30.7% from 25 to 44, 26.4% from 45 to 64, and 18.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 109.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $29,219, and the median income for a family was $29,375. Males had a median income of $24,821 versus $20,625 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,865. There were 10.2% of families and 16.1% of the population living below the poverty line, including 20.9% of under eighteens and 7.7% of those over 64.
References
External links
