Beach, North Dakota

Beach, North Dakota sits just a few miles from the Montana line, a position that for years made its own legal status uncertain. When the Northern Pacific Railroad extended its line into the area in eighteen eighty and built a section house here in eighteen eighty-one, no one could say for sure whether this particular spot was in Dakota Territory or Montana. The land survey eventually settled the question in North Dakota's favor.

The town was named for Captain Warren Beach, an Army officer who took part in an early railroad survey through this territory. A post office opened in nineteen oh two, the village incorporated in nineteen oh eight, and Beach was designated a city in nineteen oh nine. It became the seat of Golden Valley County when that county was organized in nineteen twelve.

For travelers on Interstate Ninety-Four, Beach is the last stop before the Montana border and a reminder of how recently these high plains were mapped.