This is the long gone Fargo College in Fargo, North Dakota. The building shown in this postcard, Jones Hall, was completed in 1890. By 1915, there were two more buildings flanking this one, Dill Hall, and the Fargo College Library, a Carnegie Library which was dedicated by former President Theodore Roosevelt. The school shown here was located on the hill just south of Island Park in Fargo. All the open space you see in this postcard is now filled with homes and apartments.
The college, Fargo’s first, closed it’s doors in 1922 due to financial problems. There were plans to re-open the college, but the stock market crash and ensuing Great Depression ended those plans. In 1940, Jones Hall and Dill Hall were demolished, and the Carnegie library was torn down in 1964. The cornerstone is now at Bonanzaville in West Fargo. The only remaining structure from Fargo College is the former Watson Hall Conservatory of Music at 601 Fourth Street South, which is now the home of the Fargo Fine Arts Club.
Today, it is hard to imagine razing buildings of this size and historical/architectural significance. This is one more example of why we feel as passionately as we do about preserving our historic structures whenever and however we can.
The postcard below shows Fargo College after Dill Hall had been constructed right next to Jones Hall. Thanks to Jordan Doerr for the postcard.
Original Content copyright Sonic Tremor Media
Ghosts of North Dakota 
This is a real loss. This building is breathtaking. What were those people thinking when the bulldozer and wrecking ball seemed to be the best option? Americans are way too quick to walk away from our history.
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Closed in ’22 and demolished in ’40 – could’ve have been severly deteriorated in that length of time. Plus being in Fargo, rather than out on the countryside, it may have been a safety or liability issue.
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