Bartlett… Almost Gone
Ramsey County
Inhabited as of 8/11
Bartlett is about as close as you can get to ghost town without actually being totally abandoned… perhaps one occupied property and the remains of several crumbling homes. The former town site is quickly getting overrun by nature, the roads are shaded even on a bright day like this one… untrimmed branches reach into the road to greet us as we enter.
It’s hard to imagine Bartlett as it was in 1940, when the reported population was 78.
US Census Data for Bartlett
Total Population by Place
1910 – 120
1920 – 98
1930 – 67
1940 – 78
1950 – 51
1960 – 39
1970 – 19
1980 – Delisted
When you’re the only resident left in town, you can rename the streets with a paint brush.
Photos by Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp
Copyright Sonic Tremor Media LLC
My favorite picture is the last – look at the detail! And, the curtains are still in tact. This is so neat. Thanks, guys.
-MM
So much history of ND is being lost with the abandoning of all these towns. Maybe one day they will be revived! Thanks for the pictures.
revived by who?
Hey, my motorcycle mechanic lives there. I wouldn’t call it dead yet, there’s still 2 people there.
My mom went to grade school in Bartlett and the family farm was right across Highway 2 from the Bartlett sign. When I was in grade school my mom drove school bus for Lakota and we would pick up a couple of kids that lived in Bartlett. Wayne Hooey and his wife are now the only residents. The town was built because of the railroad and when one of the railroad officials came through he said the town was actually supposed be further down and shortly after that the entire town burned to the ground so then they moved the town to the correct spot and rebuilt.
I rode that bus back in the day and lived NW of Bartlett
Great shot of the door.
Are any of these houses liveable or are they all literally falling to pieces?
Cool old trailer!
That “cool old trailer” was my home for many years. My Mon & Dad bought that in 1959 & at the age of 12 I had running water for the first time. I have a picture of it taken from the same spot as this one when our home new and most of those tree were very small.
So what was Hooey Ave. called originally? I do have a picture of the Hooey Ave. sign somewhere but the presence of a couple dogs dissuaded me from investigating more closely.
I knew the Hooeys. I was in school with their son, Cole, when I went to school in Lakota from ’97 to ’03. As far as I knew, they were the only ones living there the whole time.
I just love your site.
Here is an interesting link to a great northern railway site, with a number of ND depots including Bartlett. http://www.gn-npjointarchive.org/GNRHSBohi/Forms/AllItems.aspx
My grandmother, Victoria Schroeder, lived in Bartlett. I have many childhood memories of visiting Bartlett and I knew the stories about “When Bartlett was the end of the Great Northern Railroad.” My grandmother had a beautiful garden with stepping stone pathway and a wishing well. Her house and the Foley house next door were burned down by vandals at some point. I am afraid, because of wells, cellars and heavy brush to explore the east end of the town where she lived. I have a clipping about a birthday party given for my grandfather, Charlie, for his 65th birthday. It claimed that 147 people attended that party, more than the population of the town.
Hello, Sister Donna (Janet) Schroeder :
Your grandfather, Charles {Charley} William Schroeder and my grandfather Otto Ferdinand Schroeder were brothers.
We are able to trace back two more generations in North America but have no names or details of the previous generation Schroeder family in Karzig, Prussia.
Has your life’s journey found anything about our great, great, great grandfather?
I do not have anything before great, great grandfather. I was grateful for the family history done by Otto’s descendents. I have three volumes of the family history. My sister lived in Germany for a time but did not get to investigate the earlier generations of Schroeders. I have a copy of the newspaper that was done for the Centennial of Bartlett – KW Schroeder looked like a tough customer.
Growing up on the family farm two miles west of Bartlett, it was our post office. I recall a grocery store, grain elevator, run by the Sundeens, and the post office in the home of the Cruises. I am planning to visit what’s left of Bartlett and the two cemeteries where a number of relatives are buried. I remember the empty school house and was told that the church was cut in half and moved 4 miles west to Doyon. Grandma Balsley, Foleys, Hansons, Cruises, Unglesbees, Barrons were some of the families living in the village. I have my 40th class reunion at Lakota and hope to visit the surrounding area in June.
OMG! Robert and Pearl Barron were my grandparents, and Blanche Balsley was my great grandmother. I remember when my grandparents ran a general store just across from the railroad tracks, then later moved into a trailer house in Barlett. My grandfather worked for the railroad and he would wave to me with his lantern every night before I went to bed. My aunt and uncle, Bev and Lawrence Dykhoff, also lived in Bartlett, along with my aunt Karol and Andy Frelich. I also remember the post office being in someone’s house that I would walk to to get the mail when I was a young girl. Does anyone know if my grandmother Balsley’s house is still there. I have not been back to Bartlett since my grandfather Barron passed away when I was younger. I was in Lakota for my grandmother Barron’s (Pearl) funeral 33 years ago. I actually remember some of the houses that are shown in the pictures, talk about bringing back memories. I would love to revisit Barlett before it totally disappears. I also remember the Foleys and Hansons.
I found a letter written by my great-grandfather Mathias Voerding from Bartlett to his home in Foley, Minnesota, in 1915. The envelope has the old traditional printed round dated postmark showing Bartlett, ND, with the date Oct 7 1915. He apparently was working in the area during harvest because in the letter he comments about “getting 20 to 25 bushels of wheat to the acre” and “70 of oats.” I have no idea how long he stayed there, as he had a second wife and young child, as well as several older children, back in Minnesota. I was interested in finding the location of the town and did not realize until I found this website that the town is nearly gone. The photos are wonderful, but poignantly sad.