Dogtooth is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States *Grant County, Arkansas *Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky *Grant County, Minnesota *Grant County, Nebraska *Grant C ...

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, United States. It was so named because the shape of the nearby

butte __NOTOC__ In geomorphology, a butte () is an isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; buttes are smaller landforms than mesas, plateaus, and tablelands. The word ''butte'' comes from a French word mea ...

s resembled the

molars The molars or molar teeth are large, flat teeth at the back of the mouth. They are more developed in mammals. They are used primarily to grind food during chewing. The name ''molar'' derives from Latin, ''molaris dens'', meaning "millstone to ...

of a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

's lower jaw. The town was located in Section 11 of

survey township A survey township, sometimes called a Congressional township or just township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, is a nominally-square area of land that is nominally six U.S. survey miles (about 9.66 km) on a side. E ...

T133 North, Range 85 West.Dogtooth, ND Postal Application 1/29/1900

History

Dogtooth was first established in 1876 as a station along the Deadwood - Bismarck Trail. The station closed in 1880 when the

Northern Pacific Railroad The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by 38th United States Congress, Congress in 1864 and given ...

was completed, but settlers continued to

homestead Homestead may refer to: *Homestead (buildings), a farmhouse and its adjacent outbuildings; by extension, it can mean any small cluster of houses *Homestead (unit), a unit of measurement equal to 160 acres *Homestead principle, a legal concept th ...

in the area. A post office was established and operated by Robert Pearce March 20, 1900. The November 26, 1909, edition of the Mandan Pioneer reported that Dogtooth had "a great out look for a thriving metropolis as the Milwaukee have surveyed a town near where Dogtooth now stands . . . this part of the country is settled with people who will do all in their power to make it a good town as they will certainly appreciate so near a town after having to haul their grain fifty and sixty miles to a railroad." The Pioneer on April 8, 1910, described the new town of

Raleigh Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the seat of Wake County in the United States. It is the second-most populous city in North Carolina, after Charlotte. Raleigh is the tenth-most populous city in the Southeas ...

, located just two miles to the east along the

Milwaukee Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...

with "a few buildings have already been built, including a store and blacksmith shop. The population is mixed, largely Scandinavian." In 1910 Charles Leonard, who operated a store in Dogtooth, moved his business to Raleigh and opened a post office that October. Dogtooth slowly died out as Raleigh grew. The Carson Press reported on January 12, 1911, about Mr. Leonard's decision to move his store and establish a post office in Raleigh, suggesting that this move put "the finishing touches on Dogtooth."

Notes

Ghost towns in North Dakota Geography of Grant County, North Dakota Populated places established in 1876 1876 establishments in Dakota Territory {{US-ghost-town-stub