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National Bank Notes > North Dakota

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Fargo, Merchants NB, W8170
Fr. 599 $5 1902PB
Grade: PMG Ch. Fine 15    

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This bank was chartered in April 1906 and they issued 36,649 sheets, all Third Charters, of which there are 24 reported. This note has well stamped signatures. Fargo, the county seat of Cass County, is the largest city in North Dakota, accounting for nearly 16% of the state population. According to the 2010 census, its population was 105,549. Known as "The Biggest Little City in the World," Fargo is the economic center of southeastern North Dakota. The area that is present-day Fargo was an early stopping point for steamboats floating down the Red River during the 1870s and 1880s. The city began in 1871 as The Crossing, was unofficially called Tent City, and was known as Centralia until becoming Fargo in 1872. The community was named after Northern Pacific Railway director and Wells Fargo Express Company founder William Fargo. The area started to flourish after the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the city became known as the "Gateway to the West". It incorporated as a city in 1875 with George Egbert as mayor. During the 1880s, Fargo became the "divorce capital" of the Midwest because of lenient divorce laws. The North Dakota State Agricultural College was founded in 1890 as North Dakota's land-grant university, becoming first accredited by the North Central Association in 1915. In 1960, NDAC became known as North Dakota State University. Early in the century, the automobile industry flourished, and in 1905, Fargo was home to the Pence Automobile Company.

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