Kief, ND
McHenry County
Inhabited as of 5/10
Kief is a near-ghost town in McHenry county, and is home to the first Russian Baptist Church ever established in the United States.
Although only listed as having a population of 12 in the 2000 census, the amount of activity we saw on our visit to Kief seemed to suggest a larger population, perhaps twenty? Kief has a bar which was open for business on the day we visited.
US Census Data for Kief
Total Population by Place
1960 – 97
1970 – 46
1980 – 36
2000 – 12
2010 – 13
CLICK IMAGES TO ENLARGE
Many of the abandoned homes in Kief were in quite good condition, and led us to wonder why someone wouldn’t be interested in buying a home there. The property could surely be had for a song, it’s a beautiful community, and only minimal updating would need to be done.
From the era when a guy came out to your car and pumped your gas, washed the windows, and checked the oil. Let’s bring that back, can we?
Pictured above is the first Russian Baptist Church ever established in the United States.
All photos by Troy and Rat, copyright SonicTremorMedia.com
WOW!!! Does Someone want to invest? I will gladly move my family up there to remodel & upgrade.
Turn it into a resrt or vacation spot!
Great pics that bring back wonderful memories. My mother graduated from Kief High School with my grandparents farming just south of town. Kief actually had a 100 yr reunionin 2 yrs ago. I was unable to attend but they put out a video that was really cool. My mother and aunt were interviewd along with alot of the older folks with their memories of Kief. Hey, is it true, I heard Earl’s bar reopened?
There was a bar open the day we were there.
I spent many happy childhood days on my relatives’ farms around Kief but was unable to get tot he reunion. Do you know how I might get a copy of the video that was made? I would love to have a copy.
I believe Benny still keeps the store open at the old gas station. My stepmother was from Kief (Karen Ebel). She died last year from cancer (2009) but my father Keith Lorentzen still lives in Butte.
I grew up about 15 miles south of Kief…Kief was our address although I went to High School in McClusky…I was shocked that the bar opened….is there enough people to keep it going?? But then I hear ND is really rocking with all the oil activity going on……one of my friends saw on TV not long ago ND had more oil than Saudia Arabia …..
I was home 3 years ago….and of course drove through Kief…..was wondering how long the post office had been closed.
MarJean
The bar in Kief is open. People like to drink there, nothing else for miles around. I remember 10 years ago delivering cigarettes and pop to Benny’s grocery store. ND is booming with the oil business, but not in the Kief area.
I was back in Kief for the reunion ( 100 year ) and try and make it back to the area every few years. I have a lot of relatives in the cemetery there so thats to the personal that do a great job keeping up the area. I too stopped in the bar in Kief but only had a few soda pops so had to visit with all just a month ago. I think my heart will always be back in Kief as we had a lot of fun times growing up in the area. Thanks for the write up and the pictures.
Great gallery from Kief! I can’t wait to visit North Dakota and photograph places like this. Thanks also for your kind link to my blog, http://vanishingsouthgeorgia.com . You’re doing a wonderful thing with this site! –Brian Brown
Thanks Brian, we really like your site too. If you could post a return link to us, we’d appreciate it. Happy hunting.
very interesting to see all the old buildings, and the gas pump where i used to get gas. and also the lutheran church where i went to sunday school. so many memories. was great to be back at the celebration a few yrs ago, seen so many old friends and nieghbors. and the best part was camping right in town for 3 days. Awsome web site thanx.
I taught a rural school near Kief, directly out of high school (1953 -54). I played backetball with the Kief’s men while teaching there. These are great prictures, I feel so sad and depressed when I see these old towns disappear.
I also lived in Regan, ND during that time and it should also be placed on the Ghost Town list, nothing there but a few homes.
Very fun to see this. I grew up near Kief. My great aunt still lives there and I saw a building that she owns, in the pictures. My childhood home, that my folks still live in on a farm near there, was moved from Kief 35 years ago.
My Mother, Anne Schielke, daughter of Sam Schielke, and was born in Kief in 1916. About 20 years ago we had a Schielke reunion in Minot. Relatives took us all around Keif, Butte, Lincoln Valley, etc. My mother married Konrad Suelzle from Butte in 1935. His family owned the General Store in Butte which sold groceries among many other things. Mother graduated from Keif High School in about 1934 and my Dad graduated from Butte about 5 years earlier. I was born in Minot and was raised in Crosby located north of Williston where the oil activity is.