Grace City was on our list of places to visit when we stopped in nearby Mose and Juanita in 2004, but we headed off in pursuit of other attractions and didn’t make it to Grace City until May of 2014.
Grace City is in Foster County, about twenty minutes northeast of Carrington, and it had 63 residents as of the 2010 Census.
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The intersection of Main Street and N Railroad Ave has been relocated to this former pump island.
This lonely, old, boarded-up church is in the hardcover book Churches of the High Plains.
Photos by Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp, copyright Sonic Tremor Media LLC
See also: Mose, North Dakota
See also: Juanita, North Dakota
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Ghosts of North Dakota 
My picture still hangs on the wall inside the school (last picture) on the way to the cafe. I remember the day they took a picture of all of us grade K-12 for the last year the school would be open. I was in 4th grade. Now, it has been converted into a self-storage and the old cafeteria is a small town cafe.
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It just amazes me how clean all these towns are, I never see any trash around, lawns are cut and useable buildings are all nicely painted.
I would love to visit all these places and especially this one for the small town cafe!
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I live in a small town in ND. They take their little communities very seriously and have a strong desire to keep them alive. I would imagine that not one of these towns died without a fight.
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My Grandpa used to own and operate the service station pictured.
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Haha I didn’t know that dustin! My grandparents have owned that for years!
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That gas station was once owned and operated by my Grandfather Andrew Swart and then my Father Lowell D. Swart. He sold it when we moved to Carrington in 1955. The brick bank building (missing the front) once had a large glass window. When I was in the 1st grade, I threw a rock at a boy who was teasing me as I walked home, and it broke a large hole in the glass. the news reached my parents before i finished my walk home. The window was never replaced and the building is storage for some farm equipment now.
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My boyfriend’s grandmother used to run the post office for a number of years. If I remember right, she raised six children in it’s one room.
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I do remember the old post office with its beautifully ornate post boxes.
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I taught in Grace City for three years in the 70s, some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. Chaperoned the Class of ’78 class trip to Denver–what an adventure! Fond memories.
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Becky. Grace City currently has an estimated 63 persons (100 back in the day you and I both taught there). The school house cafe is hosting an all school reunion today at noon. I had hopes to attend but work came first. I also have published a book of poetry this June which centers on my young adulthood and what I learned in Grace City and Foster County. Wonderful people and great memories. Rick
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It would have been fun to drop in on that reunion! I’m in ND right now too, but didn’t know about it. I’m in touch with John Willoughby through Facebook which has been nice. Stopped in to visit Janice Munson in the late 80s when I was working on my Masters at UND, that’s really the last contact I’ve had with anyone from Grace City. You’re right, wonderful people.
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My grandma is Janice munson! She is wonderful! 🙂
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Greet your grandma and your dad for me. Your dad was one of my students!
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Like the website a lot. I lived in Grace City for a short time after my birth in 1958, in the Alfstad house right where you cross the rr tracks furthest to the west. My uncles and aunts were lifelong residents of Grace City; Merlin and Katherine House, Thomas and Delores House, Raymond and Cecila House, along with many cousins. My gramma Ruth lived in a small house on the west side of town near the paved road. I spent many a day visiting relatives and waiting on Dad to get farm machines fixed at Lorris Sandvols shop (pictured), and hauling grain to the elevator(pictured). My parents were Frederick and Hazel House.
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Hi Loren, This is Louise Evans. Your Sister Darlene’s youngest daughter. I’m in awe that this pooped up on my screen & then to see your post. Unfortunately, my Cellphone is not working right now, so maybe e-mail? shescorpio67@gmail.com. It would be awesome to hear from you. I hope life has been good to you and yours. I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. Hope to hear from you soon. Louise Evans
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I owned the Standard Oil gas station in Grace City in the 1960’s which was next to my father-in-law Lorris Sandvol’s garage. My gas station is pictured but Lorris Sandvol’s garage is not. Both buildings are owned by Munsons now.
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Bryce- Did you start 1st grade in a rural school in Rolling Prairie township? I did, for about 6 weeks before my family moved to a farm in Eastman township south of Glenfield. Linda Anderson Kofstad (parents: Lester Anderson and Isabelle McDaniel Anderson)
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Bryce Nelson is my brother, and, yes, he did attend rural school in Rolling Prairie Township. The school house was directly across the road from our grandparents, Andrew and Clara Nelson. The rest of our family graduated from school in Glenfield.
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Does anyone remember Tom Brown? He would have graduated in 1974 and died tragically in 1977 or 78.
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I remember playing with a Tom Brown on a Sunday in early 70’s at a house outside of Grace City. The house was on the hill going up to the old radio tower immediately to the west of town. I heard that he had been killed in a construction accident in 1976 or 1977.
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He attended Lake Region State College in Devils Lake while I was there. He was a very friendly, nice guy.
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I am Kent Brown. My parents are Victor and Marjory (Dean) Brown. Kenneth Brown (Tommies dad) and my dad were brothers. And Ina Jensen (and Hank)was their sister. We would come every summer to visit Ina & Hank on their farm, just out of town, up the hill. When I was very young in the fifties, Hank would me to town for a soda pop at the general store. My dad came a number of times to the Grace City school reunion. I don’t know if anyone still sees this site but I couldn’t resist posting a message. Grace City was such an important part my early memories. Many of my Brown relatives are in the Grace City cemetery.
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Kent, I remember Kenny and Tommy, Ina and Hank. When I was a young boy, we (Lowell and Marilyn, my parents), visited Kenny who was working at a grain elevator at the time. Must have been around 1952/53.
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Does anyone know of Merle Munson is still around?…or his son,I think was Clint..I worked with these guys for Joe Mayo and sons on a paving crew in the 70’s
My brother-in-law Boyd Busse bought Merle’s 60 Chevy Impala hardtop many years ago.
Boyd passed away in 2008 and the Impala was sold at auction then……we had ti running and driving for the sale after it had sat for some time in a Quonset after Boyd bought it
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Did any one ever reply to this? My great uncle is Merle! My grandpa and grandma Janice and Dale munson, their son my dad Mike munson and unkle Randy munson all worked for Mayo! If you still need information my email is: allnatasha@icloud.com
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WOW…So awesome to read through the comments and walk down memory lane! I was raised on the Spickler Ranch for my first 12 years and attended the old school through the 7th grade. I believe there were 8 students in my class then. We absolutely LOVED the giant strides on the school playground which would be considered absolutely unlawful to have on a playground today! Grace City holds many wonderful childhood memories and a few not so wonderful…but I mostly remember the wonderful ones! I would love to attend an all school reunion there one day! Karen Maisel Gustafson
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Karen, I’m wondering if we were high school classmates in Carrington, this would have been 1967-1970. I remember playing a 5th grade basketball game in the old quonset type gym in early 60’s. We changed into our uniforms in one of the school classrooms, as I recall. So glad I stumbled onto this website.
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While I grew up south of Glenfield, I have many memories of both the Juanita and Grace City communities! My uncle, Beryl McDaniel, was the Standard Oil agent in Grace City for many years and I used to stay with them in the summer for a few days. Marlys Sandval (spelled wrong, I know) became a good friend. I also spent some time at the Spickler ranch visiting my uncle and aunt, Don and Lillian McDaniel, who worked and lived there in the early 50’s. I loved riding horseback in the huge pastures! My sister, Patti, married Ray Topp. They still live, in a gorgeous log house that they built, a couple of miles south of Grace City. And my nephew, Lee Topp and his wife Nicki, still live at the Wallace Topp farm east of Grace City. I have had Sunday dinner several times at the Schoolhouse Cafe… really great food!
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The photograph above with the store front removed, I was told was once the bank in Grace City, North Dakota. I lived in Grace City from August 1975 through August 1978 and I may be wrong about the timing, but while Sherman Sylling was still superintendant of schools, the front was removed from that building to make a bus barn use of the structure. Surprized of course that it still stands. The teacherage I lived in with then wife Jean (Bronaugh) was removed at some point. A fine house with a cistern and giant cottonwood trees in the front yard. I picture the Lutman housemovers maybe moved the house to the oil patch. I wonder about that though. Maybe someone actually knows.
Rick Hilber
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That grocery store was operated by a lady named Elaine in the lat 40’s and early 50’s. I used to visit with my Grandmother Martha Swart and Mom, Marilyn (Lyman) Swart. My Grandfather operated the Standard Oil gas station and later my Dad Lowell ran it until we moved to Carrington around 1955. Grandpa Swart worked for Einer Wold at the corner implement dealer/garage until he passed.
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