Coteau, ND
Burke County
Inhabited as of 6/10
Coteau, ND was founded in 1906 and like many, many other towns on this website, peaked around 1920, with a population of 150. Coteau was actually on our list of towns to visit in May of 2010, but we ran out of time and passed it by. Boy, did we miss out.
Tom Pence contributed these incredible photos of Coteau with the following comments:
The Methodist Church shut down probably within the last ten years. It was functional when I left in 1993 (so don’t blame me!). There was a community center of some type. I was not familiar with it but there is a stage inside with lots of wooden benches. Pretty rough shape inside as you can see.
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I recall visiting Coteau as a child, and I can’t wait to go again. Thanks for the post. I forwarded the Coteau email to my mom because she lived there as a child. Here is the story I got out of her regarding the little ghost town………..
This is interesting about Coteau as I was there yesterday. Les & I went to Betty & Eddies 50th aniv. celebration in Bowbells which is real close to Coteau. On the way to Stanley we drove in and I showed Les the little ghost town where I went to grade school, went to Bible school & Sunday school, etc.
I used to play a lot on those church steps too. Right across the street was Mrs. Parsins place. (The little house pictured) Mom would visit her and I could play in her back yard which I thought was paradise. She had little paths going all over with flowers everywhere. I have always remembered it.
The pink house was where the Johnsons lived. The old man later lived close to mom and dad in the Minot apartments. He passed away shortly b/4 dad did. They were old friends and one of their boys was a classmate of mine.
The bar that grandpa owned was just north of the church on the opposite side. It isn’t there anymore. We first lived inside the bar as there was living space in the back and a lot of upstairs bedrooms. I think it was at one time a hotel.
We lived in three different houses after that and one is pictured right b/4 the pictures of the school.
The old school was replaced with a new one after we left but shortly after that they closed it down and the kids that were left went to Bowbells.
I would love to take all of you girls there someday before I die because I have so many good memories there.
Hi
My family has had a presence in Coteau since around 1951. Merton and Ida Hinds moved into Coteau after selling family farm to eldest son Robert near the community of Flaxton. Merton worked for Great Northern Rail Road until his death in 1955. During this time He owned the last active bar in Coteau and Ida was a part time teacher at school. Their youngest son Mike ( my dad) attended school in Coteau until it closed then he returned to family farm and Finnished in Flaxton. After that Mike started his career in Automotive repair and returned to Coteau and purchased the service station from Phill Christianson and had a small convince type store and Auto Body shop along with his sevice station. Along came me (Jerome ) I grew up in Coteau started my career as electrician and like my dad I soon moved back to Coteau with a wife and kids to raise my kids like I was in my little Ghost Town. We are still close to the community we own property there and try to mow and keep it like it was but Coteau is not quite the same as it was with no business it is more o the ghost town than ever. We do have some young families moving in and recognizing the true benefits of 21st century Coteau, the great lifestyle and child rearing. I can only hope that one of my children will have the option to do what I have done to, make a life and raise their family in this historic little GHOST TOWN
Jerome Hinds
Coteau,ND
My dad graduated from that High School in 1953! I still have his senior yearbook and there is a picture in there of the school in it’s heyday. There is only about half of the bricks left of the original building, that doorway was in the middle. And there was a large while quonset connected to the side that is missing that was the gymnasium.
My Dad, (Arthur P. T.) was born in Coteau in 1910. He left for Oregon in the Depression, mid-Thirties. All his life, he believed it to be the finest town with the finest people he ever knew. Such is the power of our childhoods….. all us kids love Coteau, too, as a place that felt like a romantic fantasy even as we visited and walked the streets.
My grandfather grew up in Coteau. Pearse Parsons. I believe that the Mrs. Parsins that Crystal mentions above is actually his mother, my great grandmother, Viola Parsons. I have pictures of my grandmother and grandfather on a motorcycle in front of that little church circa 1940s/50s. So amazing to see that church and their house today. This really meant a lot to me.
Carrie,
Viola Maude Parsons is my grandmother from Coteau ND. She was the Post Mistress there for awhile. She and my grandfather Robert Orange Parsons are buried west of town in a small cemetery along with my father Robert Donald Parsons and his brother Walter who died at a very young age (3-5 years old). I attended my grandmother (1974) and fathers (1979) funerals in the church pictured. I haven’t been to Coteau since 2004 and from the pictures it looks much the same as it did the last I saw it. I am not familiar with Pearse Parsons but would very much like to speak with you further to see how we are related
Rob,
Pearse was your dad’s brother. There was also a sister Sara Parsons. I have some great family photos and newspaper articles you may enjoy. Here is my e-mail address: bowman.carrie@insightbb.com. Send me a message and we can chat. I would love to hear from you.
A good friend and neighbor in Powers Lake, ND bought a 1937 Hudson Terraplane from a widow in Couteau in the early ’70′s. Her husband had driven it and she kept it in the garage up on blocks. It had been started once a month and run for a short while.
When she bought it, they drained the oil, aired up the tires and drove it from Coteau to Powers Lake at about 55 – 60 mph.
She still has it today. It runs well and only has a few dents and some crazed glass.
I Recently went through Coteau. I’m very Curious about the House Thats Mailbox Reads Mr.and Mrs. Albertson. My Great Grand Mother was Gina Albertson. Does anyone have More Info?
Tammy,
My mom used to vist my great grandparents up in Coteau and I asked her about the Albertsons. she recalls their names being Walt and Mabel. they had a son named Galen who she believes lived in Alaska. This was in the early 1970′s. I hope that helps you out. If you have any other questions I’ll be happy to try to help you out!
Does anyone remember the Parsons they lived in town . The bar in town playing cards on Sat night.
Robin Parsons Arnold says:
My father Ed Parsons grew up in Coteau. His brother was Don Parsons, sister was Sarah Parsons, and their mother was Maude.
I attended school in Coteau through the 5th grade (the high school had closed prior to that). The school bus ride to Bowbells that 1st day was terrifying…walking into such a HUGE class (I think about 25 students). My Dad had a garage/mechanic shop in Coteau and farmed WSW of there. The pink house in the pictures belonged to my Aunt & Uncle Glen & Evelyn Johnson. He worked for the railroad. They later moved to Noonan and then to Minot. and are both deceased.
Does anyone have any information about Robert and Irene Little, my father Jack was born in Coteau and I am searching for information. I am told my Grandfather owned acreage about 12 miles south of Coteau and sold it to the government. Thank you for any help you can be. Cathy (Little) Ward
I lived next to them for many years, they also had a daughter named Carol, don’t know where she is now. We owned a small house next door and moved to Bowbells in the early fifties. I attended the school shown until the third grade. My dad worked in the elevator then moved so he could be Manager of the Elevator in Bowbells. The gym was used as an EGG producing plant after the school closed. They had thousands of chickens in it for several years. The church congragation merged with the United Methodost church in Bowbells. I used to take the offering every sunday, with a friend from the Melby family. I will never forget at christmas we would have a party and they would show a movie, the Ten commandments or such. It was the first time I ever saw a movie. We would get a brown paper bag full of candy, and everyojne would get a gift. Still remember it to this day.
As for the school I can remember Mrs Fender bending you over a table and using the ruler on your backside if you got out of line. I also remember a black and white movie about spiders being shown in the old Gym.
I remember a man being burned up when his house caught fire, and watching it burn accross town from our front window. All that was left was ashes when the fire was finally put out. Old wood house so it went pretty quick. One of the pictures shown was a mortuary. It had an old car sitting in it for years, Model T or A. Anyway one day a flatbed truck pulled up, rolled out the car and left with it. The story was they got about $ 3000 dollars for it from some guy in Mineapolis.
I remember Don Parsons, walking with a limp, and I still remember his old Green Henry J he drove.I remember Jense larsons store, At the store you could get a bottle of Pepsi and a bag of peanuts or a dime. Pour the penuts in the Pepsi and thought it was really something special. I remember Mike Hines filling station. I remember a buddy of mine in High school repainting a car he had bought. Don’t remember what year it was but he painted it Canary yellow and black in Mikes shop. There was a Coteau reunion in 2006 with the Bowbells reunion. Also just read an article that because of the Oil Boom someone just opened a RV park with full hook ups right next to the old school. I have wonderful memories of that town.
I worked in the grain elevator one summer. One of the farmers would come in every day for coffee and cookies, free at the elevator, and would just love telling the Manager that the Mertes Implement in Bowbells always had better free cookies. I never saw anyone that loved to laugh as much as him.
My grandfather had the farm about 1/2 mile from town. I would walk out there and spend the day with them. When I was a teenager we moved back to coteau for a winter while my dad was out of work. I walked to my grandfathers one day in a pretty good wind. When I got there my Grandfather made me stay over night because the wind was gusting to over 70 Miles an hour. That was after he told me how dumb it was to walk there in that wind. I thought it was just another good dsay to go rabbit hunting in his pasture.
Mabel (Walt) Albertson was my Dad’s sister. My cousin was Carol Albertson, sister of Galen (who has died in Alaska.) Carol has a kitchen products and natural foods store in Watertown, South Dakota. Here is the website. She’s pictured with her husband in the tab: About Us.
http://www.healthfoodcenter.net/