Linton, North Dakota, Heart of German-Russia

Linton is the seat of Emmons County, one of the most distinctly German-Russian counties in the nation. The town was platted in eighteen ninety-eight and named for an early settler, George Lynn. German-Russian immigrants settled Emmons, Logan, and McIntosh counties, filling entire townships with families who had fled Russia for the Dakotas.

Linton grew quickly in its early years. The German language persisted in local churches and homes well into the twentieth century. If you drive the back roads around Linton today, the Catholic churches and wrought iron grave crosses still mark the landscape like a small piece of the Black Sea steppe transplanted to the Northern Plains.