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National Bank Notes > North Dakota

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Grand Forks, Union NB, W4372
Fr. 484 $10 1882BB
Grade: PMG Ch. VF 35 EPQ    

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The Union National Bank of Grand Forks was the city's fifth national bank. It was chartered in 1890, immediately following statehood. They issued 5,855 sheets before being liquidated on September 9, 1912. This is by far the finest of the two notes reported; the other is the same type but graded Good. There were 2,620 Brown Back sheets printed, all $10-10-10-20. This note carries the 'peach' designation for quality, centering, margins, appeal and signatures. I know that $5s are rarer but there are only 13 $10 state Brown Backs. This one is special as are the Red River Valley National Bank of Fargo and the #1 Harvey. This note was acquired from me when I sold the Amon Carter Collection. Signing officers were David H. Beecher, President and Sidney Clarke, Cashier. Sidney Clarke was born in Brooklyn, New York, May 31, 1854. He graduated from Colgate University in 1882 and came to Crookston, MN, entering the employ of the First National Bank. He continued there until 1885, when, in company with Mr. Beecher, he organized the First National Bank of Park River, North Dakota, acting as cashier of the institution. He organized the state bank of Milton in 1887, being vice-president of the same. He came to Grand Forks in 1890, and became cashier of the Union National Bank, of which he was one of the organizers. Mr. Clarke was a member of the State Bankers' Association, of which he was the secretary. Grand Forks is the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2010 census, the city's population was 52,838 making Grand Forks the third-largest city in the state of (after Fargo and Bismarck). Its location at the fork of the Red River and the Red Lake River gives the city its name. Prior to settlement by Europeans or Americans, the area where the city now sits had been an important meeting and trading point for Native Americans. Early French explorers, fur trappers, and traders called the area Les Grandes Fourches meaning "The Grand Forks". By the 1740s, Les Grandes Fourches was an important trading post for French fur trappers. Settlers arrived here in 1868, making Grand Forks the oldest of North Dakota's four major cities, and the second oldest permanent white settlement in the state. The post office was established June 15, 1870 with Sanford C. Cady as Postmaster. It was named county seat when Grand Forks County organized in 1873. It reported a population of 30 in 1870, but had grown to a city of over 7,000 residents by the time North Dakota became a state in 1889. Grand Forks was officially incorporated on February 22, 1881. The city quickly grew after the arrival of the Great Northern Railway in 1880 and the Northern Pacific Railway in 1887. In 1883, the University of North Dakota was established, six years before North Dakota was formally recognized as an independent state born from the Dakota Territory. The State Mill and Elevator was built in 1922, and the North Dakota School for the Blind moved here from Bathgate in 1961. Arthur G. Sorlie (1874-1928), governor of North Dakota 1925-1928, was born here.

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