We’ve wanted to visit Antler for several years but it never quite fit into our travel plans until 4th of July weekend, 2013. Antler is a very small town in Bottineau County, just two miles from the Canadian border. The 2010 Census pinpoints Antler’s population at 27, although local residents claim a population of 35. Local residents have fought valiantly at times to keep the population figure from dwindling, including an effort by two local residents in the 1980s to give away free land to families who would agree to move to Antler. It worked in the short-term, with 6 families receiving land.
Antler has a rich and colorful history as a former Port of Entry, not to mention one-time World Record Holder for the World’s Largest Quilt. There is a fascinating website dedicated to Antler’s history at AntlerND.com — a word of caution however, you will get lost in that site for hours.
We stopped for a beer at the I Have No Idea Bar & Grill (also known as The Cabin) while we were there… not the friendliest place to outlanders like ourselves, but they had good cold beer and the prices were reasonable. You can see their Facebook page here.
This is the former Custom House for international travelers. It has also functioned as the Bank, Post Office, and Telephone Office.
This was also a bank, older than the Bank/Custom House in the center of the town square. The AntlerND.com site has photos of this building when it was still surrounded by other structures. We featured this building in our book, Ghosts of North Dakota, Volume 3, and we’re glad we did, because in the spring of 2016, they tore it down after a white supremacist attempted to buy it, allegedly with plans to take over the town.
On the left, the former firehouse and jail. On the right, the International Order of Odd Fellows hall.
Vince Azzarello sent in a photo gallery of Antler in 2012 which you can see here.
Tiny Tim once performed at the Antler Public School during a tour to support small schools. Antler’s school is also featured in our third book.
This school was built in 1907. Hidden in the trees on the left, a quonset hut gymnasium built in 1949. On the right, a modern addition with extra classroom space, built in 1964.
The Antler school closed in 1976.
Photos by Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp, copyright Sonic Tremor Media LLC
Ghosts of North Dakota 
Glad you guys were able to make it up to Antler! Wish I had the kind of camera you guys have, the pics look amazing! My favorite small town in ND.
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Thanks for the pictures. My wife’s father was born and raised in Antler. She is a part owner with her siblings and cousins of the Carlson Border Farm located on the Canadian Border as the name suggests. Shortly before my Father-in Laws death we visited the farm and his mother’s grave in the Antler Cemetery. We have an amazing wide angle picture of my wife and her father looking over the property. It is truly an intriguing “ghost town”, one that could be used as a set for and Old West movie. Thanks again.
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Hi Wayne – I agree with your comment about Antler looking like it could be a movie set. The whole town has that sort of aura. I’m hoping to make a trip up there with my motor home, maybe next summer. So glad there are people who appreciate a sweet little town like Antler.
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I thought the school closed in the early 1980’s, not 1976…. I believe it was 1984 or 85.
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An excerpt from http://www.Antlernd.com: “In 1907 a contract to build a brick, four room school went to Jas. Finnin of Devils Lake for $7,219.03 without a heating plant. The school was ready for use by late 1907.” Several additions were added on throughout the years, including a gymnasium in 1949-50, and a “science room, a commerce room, a library, a dining room, a well-equipped kitchen and an office” in 1964. This was the last addition to the school. High school classes were held in the new addition until 1976. Then, the grade children in kindergarten through sixth grade used the new addition until the closing of the entire school in 1987. That is the same year the school district was dissolved. “The older school is now occupied by the Antler Historical Society as a museum. The newer addition, at present, is owned by the City of Antler”. That was printed in 1989.
I just copied that from the Antler, 2012 picture captions.
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Thanks 😉 I just see the picture caption saying “The antler school closed in 1976.” Thanks for the information!
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I grew up and went to school in Westhope. I remember the Antler Juniors (about 1975) being told they were going to graduate so they bought their rings and annuals and ended up being sent to graduate with us. And they wore their Antler graduation rings. The grades went more years but they had dropped below minimum to keep the high school open so their district consolidated into ours. Landa and Souris had done the same, closing down and consolidating into our district; in the 1970’s… and same general bit. High school dropped to about 16 or so students and had to close, then the grades followed in the next few to several years.
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I have a children’s book called “The Night Before the Night Before Christmas,” illustrated by Vern Skaug of Minot, which is the reason I have the book, about Santa’s crash landing and short stay in Antler while he was on a practice run a few days before Christmas in 1906. It has a drawing of the town as it existed at that time. I was fascinated with the story enough to visit the town during one of my last return trips to Minot. Now, I am intrigued by the “Santa” signs in the pictures above. Coincidence?
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I may have misspoke. Couldn’t find “The Night Before the Night Before Christmas” in an online search, but found “The Three Hundred & Sixty Five Days of Christmas” mentioned with this story line. My book is somewhere in a storage box and I was working off an apparently faulty memory.
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I was just in Antler ND today . Never had been there and I drove a friend there to see her friend. Very clean looking town. And all the people waved!!
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I believe the book you are talking about Jon was “The 365 Days of Christmas”, which was published in 1987 by R. Smith Kiliper and illustrated by Vern Skaug. It was published by the Antler Press, Inc. of Antler, ND. I believe the building with the Santa Bank sign on was a building that Kiliper was trying to refurbish and tried to start a bank there. It is a very friendly town and a fun area to explore.
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Lived there for many years…Raised my boys there too,great town,great beauty and great people!!!
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There is almost an exact duplicate of that bank in Maxbass.
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A family acquaintance named Bill Gunn and his wife Marie operated a bar in Antler sometime in the late 40s early 50s. Does anyone recognize the name and if so what can you relate regarding them?
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Bill Gunn was a business partner and good friend of a Tennyson,in Antler..
That Tennyson was my two oldest sons,great-grandfather…
He was the 1st on the scene when Bill wrecked that airplane…
Heard the whole story a few times,plus others…
Lived in Antler for most of my adult life.. Great town,great people..
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Bill Gunn died as a result of injuries suffered in a crop dusting airplane crash near Antler. There is a write up in the Westhope Standard dated Sept 3, 2014. It happened 50 years ago this week.
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I have never been to Antler but my aunt and uncle lived there sometime in the 30’s. My uncle was the customs agent at the border crossing. Otto and Helen Faust.
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Yes,it reopened for a few years when the free land deal came through,people coming in from all over.
But it was a bust and everyone finally left,to find better areas to live or went back where they came from…..
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You were correct. There are 2 books. The Night Before the Night Before Christmas and the 365 Days of Christmas. Both are by R. Smith Kiliper and illustrated by Vern Skaug. I happen to have both in my possession. I am originally from Antler and graduated in 1973.
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My Dad was the Superintendent , Principal, Teacher, Coach in 1966. I was in the Junior class of three people,. I have fond memories of the people of Antler. My Dad took a teaching job in Casper, Wyoming. I went on to also become a teacher, (In Wyoming and Nebraska).
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We to Antler every summer . Stayed on my Grandfather’s farm Just south of the Canadian border. I Remember all of these buildings in Antler. So many grateful memories. Love all your pics!
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My family and I took a road trip from our home in Mandan North Dakota to the Canada Border. We discoved the town Antler. We found the victorian design of the buildings to be very cool. Who owns the emprty buildings in antler? What do poeple do for work in that area?
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Antler is a sleeper town….Most commute to different towns to work and many are retired that live there…
The empty buildings are owned by the county and (Or) city,that sit on the main street areas…
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things in Antler aren’t all they appear. the land give away was a total disaster those people who got land left town with tons of bills and took advantage of certain citizens same with the man who wrote the two Christmas books you talked about. only two people ended up with land witch eventually returned to its owner
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Most people that live in Antler are retired,but the few that do work are self employed or work for farmers or the oilfields….
Yes the free land grab brought in the garbage for all the different states and most were welfare bagging bum’s! It left a bad taste in every ones mouth after they left!
Antler had to rebuild its reputation again and because of that situation,the town became strong with the people living there,backing each other up from than on!!!
I should know,I was lived there for many years… Great little town,with the best people you would ever meet!
PS: Three of the people that did the free land grab,stayed and made it,they turned out to be great people,but they moved to other local towns to look for work,they still live in ND….
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My grandfather, grandmother, two grand uncles and uncle are all buried in Antler. My grandfather Dan Manning, and his two brother Jack and Mike, ‘homesteaded’ Antler Creek circa 1881. My mother had lots of interesting stories about their early days on the plains, when civilization was 150 miles away. As a child my family visited several time during the 1950’s. I went to the Centennial Celebration in 2005 – but as we all know, life goes on, and those hardy souls who still live there have their own ‘legends’ and memories. There are some very nice people living in Antler. I especially appreciated the kindness of the Artz family. One of these days I’d like to visit once again…
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I knew your mother Martha. Sweet lady. Your uncle Roy Pell Manning was a mentor of mine. He died when I was 9 years old working on my fathers farm. He was so special to all 15 of us kids. My youngest brother named after him. Thank you Pete Artz
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I worked on the Canadian side of the border of Antler for eight years as a Canada Customs Inspector. I recognize the names Feland, Artz and Tennyson. Chappy Tooks was one of my daily border crossers and he was a character-Unforgettable! A movie was supposed to be filmed at Antler around 1987 but it didn’t happen for some reason. The Cabin (Bar & Grill) was packed with Canadians every Friday and Saturday night. Very nice people at Antler and all “my Travellors”.
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I remember going to a threshing bee during a centennial and I went to my cousins wedding and sadly their funerals. She married one of theTennyson Brothers who had the garage —gas station or what ever in later years. I also dug up some daisies out of her garden the day of her funeral that are still growing in my garden. Always a reminder of her and Antler.
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My mother grew up in Antler (Johanna Fox Hill), where her father, Fred Fox, owned the Meat Market on the main square. My father grew up on a farm out of Antler (James William Hill). I was born in Minot along with my twin sister, younger sister, along with one of my brothers. My other brother was born in Montana. I spent part of my early life living in North Dakota on the Westhope, ND border by Canada. My dad was an Immigration officer there for about 5 years. We moved to Illinois for a couple of years, then moved to Portal, ND for one year. After that, my dad was transferred to Haines, Alaska in 1966. My siblings and I grew up in Alaska and loved it, but missed North Dakota also. We went back every couple of years to visit both sets of grandparents (Fred and Ruth Fox of Antler, and Bill and Fern Hill of Westhope), my Uncle Bernie Fox, my Aunt Gladys and Uncle Pete DeMars, and cousins. My Fox grandparents, Uncle Willard and Uncle Bernie are all buried in the Antler Cemetery. My Hill grandparents and Aunt Gladys and Uncle Pete DeMars are buried in the Westhope Cemetery. Some of my siblings and I went back to North Dakota in 2008 to see Antler and visit my Aunt Gladys DeMars in Westhope. I have a lot of good memories of times in Antler and Westhope. So, both North Dakota and Alaska hold a special place in my heart. I have lived in Alaska for over forty years now. I still think back on all the great times I had in North Dakota. Both states are wonderful places.
Jean Hill Mikesell
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