Pick City is a city in Mercer County,

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

, United States. The population was 123 at the 2020 census. Pick City was founded in 1946 and named after Lewis A. Pick, director of the Missouri River office of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: Engineer Regiment, military construction, and civil wo ...

. It overlooks the

Garrison Dam Garrison Dam is an earth-fill embankment dam on the Missouri River in central North Dakota, U.S. Constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1947 to 1953, at over in length, the dam is the fifth-largest earthen dam in the world. The res ...

History

Due to frequent floodings in the area during the previous decades, the

Bureau of Reclamation The Bureau of Reclamation, formerly the United States Reclamation Service, is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, which oversees water resource management, specifically as it ...

and Army Corps of Engineers both agreed that a solution had to be found. They decided to invest in a dam that aimed to capitalize off of the local water sources to produce

hydroelectric power Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

and irrigate land in the nearby basin to ease agricolture. On top of that, they also promoted the creation of a city to oversee said dam, which would be platted as "Pick City" in July 1946 . The city was inhabited by people from all over the U.S. which benefitted from the project.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 123 people, 3 households, and 6 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 132 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 99.2%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and 0.8% Native American.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.8% of the population. There were 63 households, of which 7.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 1.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.9% were non-families. 33.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.95 and the average family size was 2.36. The median age in the city was 58.3 years. 10.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 10.5% were from 25 to 44; 37.4% were from 45 to 64; and 37.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.2% male and 48.8% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 166 people, 72 households, and 51 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 117 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.35%

, 3.61% Native American, and 9.04% from two or more races. There were 72 households, out of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.5% were

living together, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.8% were non-families. 26.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.75. In the city, the population was spread out, with 22.3% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 24.7% from 25 to 44, 30.7% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 100.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $36,563, and the median income for a family was $37,750. Males had a median income of $36,250 versus $18,750 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $16,077. About 8.8% of families and 9.0% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.9% of those under the age of eighteen and 7.1% of those 65 or over.

Education

It is in Underwood School District 8. At one time the Pick City Sitka School provided educational services. That school merged into the

Riverdale School District 89 Riverdale School District 89 was a school district headquartered in Riverdale, North Dakota. The Riverdale School District had portions in Mercer County, North Dakota, Mercer County and in McLean County, North Dakota, McLean County. The Associate ...

school, for Riverdale. In 1992, elementary school students went to school in Riverdale. Middle and high school students in the Pick City area north of Highway 1806 were assigned to

Underwood Underwood may refer to: People *Underwood (surname), people with the surname Places Australia *Underwood, Queensland, a suburb of Logan City, Australia *Underwood, Tasmania, a locality United Kingdom *Underwood, Devon, a List of United Kingdom ...

schools. Students south of Highway 1806 had Underwood, Hazen, and Stanton as choices. There was a movement to have Pick City join the Hazen school district. The Riverdale elementary school closed in 1994.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Cities in Mercer County, North Dakota Cities in North Dakota Populated places established in 1946 North Dakota populated places on the Missouri River