Sutton, ND
Griggs County
Inhabited as of 6/10
Sutton, ND was founded in 1910 and was named for a local farmer, John Sutton. It is no longer listed in the US Census.
Dustin Person contributed these photos of Sutton with the following comments:
Sutton is located west of Cooperstown in Griggs County. Population around 20-25. There were a lot of abandoned houses in Sutton, and a number of kept up houses. The post office (gray building) on Main St. was abandoned, so I don’t know if they have a post office anymore, but according to Wikipedia, they do, so not sure where that is. The school has been converted into a Senior Citizen’s Center. The gas station looks to be closed, as there was tall grass and weeds growing up to the front door, however, I did not take any pictures of it as there were a couple vehicles parked there. The elevator is still in use, and is quite large for a small town, and there was also a bar on Main St. The church pictured was a methodist church, looks like it was recently abandoned. I was really surprised by the photo opportunities in Sutton.
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The building with the rounded roof and bush in front of the door was where we kids went to roller skate and I remember going there for my cousins wedding dance.
At one time Sutton even had an opera house and drug store.
My uncle Harry Dramstad owned the lumber yard.
The last picture of the yellow house is where my friend Janice Johnson lived.
My dad was born in Sutton.
My great aunt and uncle, Frenchie and Elizabeth Daniels, who’s house I believe is still lived in , even had a cement fish pond in their yard.
My mom was Tres Leininger, daughter of John and Ida, and my dad was Clarence Christianson, son of John and Grace (Freydenberg)(sp?)….. so as you might imagine my brother John and I have tons of cousins….We used to drive back ( from Portland ) EVERY year to spend at least a couple of weeks in the Summer. My Grandma Leininger lived in a little house practically across from where we roller skated. The PO and the Hardware store were still in business… and the ice cream store, with the wood floors, and GIANT scoops of ice cream for a nickel. Spent a lot of time at Red Willow Lake at the dances….and hanging around in Binford in the evenings…… So many wonderful Summer memories with great people!
My folks, MaryJane (Leininger) & Ed Houston, have that house now with the fish pond. Its 361 Main, the first on the right as u come into town from the North. They haven’t done anything with the pond, but they did fix up the three-holer outhouse in the back yard…!! They’ve also fixed up the house quite a bit so it can last another 100 years…
I once fell into that fish pond while cutting across the yard to the next door during a night of trick or treating.
I miss living in Sutton,It was a great town. We were the first in town to have Satillite TV lol.
The rounded roof was were we had get togethers on Sat nights or just playing cards.
I remember the rounded roof building. We would have dances there on Sat night and talk about what happenend all day Sunday about who danced with who lol.
I also remember roller skating in the gym. My Dad, Ed Buechler, was the manager of the elevator when we lived there. I recognize all those homes as I delivered the Sunday Fargo Forum to every house in town…..46 papers before Sunday school at Mable Lutheran Church. I also think I mowed just about every yard in Town too….I absolutely remember when the lumber yard and all its activity. Does anyone remember Pie Day?
I loved hanging out in Sutton it was my second home. We had the best parties there the pic of the building with the curved roof after we would have a house party
Well party down Carson
My husband and myself moved to Sutton in Jan. 1974. Joel took over the managers job at the elevator after Ed Buechler left. I loved the little town and all the great people. I had my 21st birthday in the Sutton bar when I was 8 months pregnant. In the 70′s several older people were living in the now old abandoned homes.I wish I had the wisdom of my age today to have visited the elderly more and to appreciate their life experiences. The Prescotts lived next to us. I marveled today at their gardening skills and the simplicity of their lives back then. Jack and Joyce had the coolest grocery store. Fresh Fruit was along the front window and the antiques candy cupboard had glass on the front and sliding doors in the back. We often filled the gas tank at the pump in Burt Harrington’s yard. We lived in the elevator house across from Augie and Delores. That house had the most beautiful hardwood floors I have ever seen. During the ice blizzard of 1976 we went without power for several days. We heated our house with an old stove from Arvids barn that was full of turkey poop. We were able to keep warm in-spite of the smell of burning turkey feathers. Several years later I am convinced living in Sutton shaped the person I am today. I enjoyed my rural country living with a huge garden. Even though I never met Frank and Elizabeth I enjoyed walking by their yard and absorbing the detail of all his metal work. My husband is a gunsmith not a blacksmith but old heavy iron landscapes my yard. Yes I enjoyed my memories of days gone by. We made several friendships and many of these good people are no longer living. I hold good places, good times and good people close to my heart.
The Mabel Luthern Church cemetery is south and west of Sutton. There is also another cememtery east of Sutton.
Thats great info Donna I have kin burried around Sutton nut have not been able to find the graves. My Great great grand parants lived in Sutton I was told. I am looking on info from the McCloskey name.
I have kin burried in Sutton. I visit them sometimes, never see a soul.
I lived on a farm north & east of Sutton. I remember movies and roller skating in the gym (round roofed building).I remember when it was built. We had basketball games there when it was new.
I remember pie day. It was great!
The bookmobile “blue truck in the picture” used to come to the binford and grace city elementary school’s when I went to school there. Sadly Sutton seams to be another town that is slowly dying.
My family moved to Sutton in 1959, my dad Ellis Jackson had been hired as the bus driver & custodian for the new school. I recognize most of the photos except the first, it almost looks like Karl & Edna Odegard’s home but cant be sure. My Dad ran the roller skating too at the gym- it was the thing to do back then, I was just a kid, we could only stay until a certain time, then the older kids got to skate. No one locked their doors, we played outside until the yard lights came on, then we had to go home, we had a “party-line” phone line-if someone else was talking you were supposed to hang up and wait your turn. I can remember my Grandma at the farm “rubber-necking” as they called it. They had an old crank phone-I watched her turn the crank a few short or long-that musta been whoever you were calling…
My Mother worked at that post office after a couple previous lady postmasters; Selma Johnson
& Nellie Thompson-she must have froze or boiled in that place, The house that looks like a barn roof is where Elmo Arndt’s lived when we moved to town, after that, Ruth & Obert Martinson lived there. The yellow house in the photos belonged to Gramma Martha Thompson, we would often go there and visit. She was a nice lady, she always was happy to see us, she would feed us flat bread-I hope we didnt pester her…The building with the sliding doors on the front used to belong to old Fred Kingsley at one time, I think it was a fix-it shop.
We called all the old ladies in town ‘Gramma”, except Marie Bailey. When we went trick or treating for Halloween, they would make us come in and take off our masks and fuss over our costumes, they had hot chocolate waiting or homemade fudge, it was the best! Times were simple for some of us, some not. Our little town still had poverty, alcoholism & child neglect. So, with the good things, were other elements that shaped our lives….there are a few inhabitants left, Sutton is still a good place to go and visit-the bar there has steak night on Friday’s and sometimes serves close to a hundred people. It will always be my home.
I was born and raised on a farm 3 miles north-east of Sutton. My brother, Gary & wife Karen have the farm now. Sutton was such a fun place…When I was little there was a hotel, bar, grocery store, post office, the gym, school, Mabel Lutheran church and the Methodist church, a lumber yard, the elevator and even the train depot. I married Chuck Beer whose Mom was a Westerhausen and her aunt and uncle were Fred and Mary Dietrich. Roller skating was always a hit and I remember being in grade school when the tornado hit the school and being excited because now we didn’t have to go to school!! HUH! The basement of the Lutheran church was our school-room until the new school was built. I remember the “play-days” when we would earn ribbons and always the penny candy at the store. Such GREAT memories. Grandma and Grandpa’s house was the first one after the filling station and was always such a wonderous place to be. Cookies in the cookie jar, swing set in the backyard and getting to be ‘in town’. Blessings abounding!
Hello. My name is Evan Houston. I was born at the Minot AFB. I am a grandson of Carl & Hazel Leininger. Son of Mary Jane (Leininger) & Ed Houston. I grew up and live in Indiana. My family would drive up to Sutton every summer for two weeks when my three brothers and I were growing up and spend time at the J&J Grocery, visit the guys at the elevator, play basketball and go to weddings at the hall, play in the slews, swim in the Hannaford pond, skate at Red Willow, do a little walleye fishin, shoot gophers out at the Leininger Farm North of town. We’d go into Cooper and spend time with other family, go swimming, or play t-ball. Since then my folks have bought and remodelled the first house on Main. They stay up there usually from April to October. They still reside here in Indiana. GGpa & GGma Leininger lived in the first yellow house on the second block there on main. My Auntie Joyce & Jack Taxdahl live in the next place on right. Auntie Jean also bought a house and Auntie Cynthia bought another. Now I hear Auntie Nancy & Wayne Morris have bought one of the churches and is gonna fix it up. Now my brothers and I bring our kids up to visit Gma & Gpa and the family. Not only for the every-five year reunions, but each year now my kids crave to be there in that little tiny place for as long as they can. I truly loved being there as a kid and now I get to see how this magical little place makes my kids feel and it really churns up a lot of emotions… Our road trip this summer is July 6-13. Stop by 361 Main and say hi. Talk to my mom. She knows and remembers everybody…
While I never knew Sutton while these great buildings and homes were in use, I do know that it still picks up on Friday nights when the little bar in town serves the best steaks and folks come from all around. My husband’s extended family lives in Griggs county, and whenever we are up to visit, we make sure to leave home early enough on Friday to make it to Sutton in time for steaks. I’ve always loved the little town and the abandon buildings, so it’s great to see the photos and hear the history from folks.
I remember starting school in the brick old school on the north end of town. A tornado came along and blew the roof and second story off it. We ended up having classes in to Lutheran Chruch basement and in the Odd Fellows Hall uptown. We walked uptown everyday to have dinner in the old brick bank building on main street. (the same building they used to have Pie Day in) After the new school was built we combined with Glenfield, and, later the Sutton School was closed.
My sister Bobbie was married to Joel Ackerman who worked in the grain elevator in Sutton for a few years. I was still in high school in New Rockford and loved to go stay at there house during the summers. I remember meeting Ben Buechler and his sister. They were great tour guides around the local community. If I remember correctly, they even took us swimming at someones farm nearby? I remember many of the names seen posted here, even though I was only a visitor to Sutton during the years that Bobbie and Joel lived there, it was always so much fun and the people were always so nice and welcoming.