We revisited Manfred last summer for the first time in six years and found some things had changed for the better. Look at the Hotel Johnson in 2006 compared to how it looks now… the residents of Manfred have made amazing progress on the old hotel.
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Manfred is a near-ghost town just off Highway 52 between Minot and Jamestown. We visited Manfred previously in 2006, and decided to stop again for an overdue visit on our way to north central North Dakota.
Manfred is home to about five residents these days, and several of them are doing a fantastic job at buying up properties and securing/restoring them. The Johnson Hotel was on the brink when we visited in 2006, but has since been repainted. In addition, there was an old school in Manfred which we chose not to photograph last time because it looked as though someone had been living in it. It is now undergoing a thorough cleaning, and the residents of Manfred have plans to restore the portico over the front stairs when they can raise the funds to do so. Continue reading “Manfred: Six Years Later”
Manfred, North Dakota is in Wells County, about 30 miles south of Rugby, near the geographical center of North America. Manfred reportedly had 439 citizens in 1920, but that declined to 70 by 1960, and about a dozen when we took these photos in 2006. We actually hadn’t planned on stopping in Manfred, but we drove right by it on the way to Silva and Fillmore, and when we saw the hotel from the highway, we immediately decided to go to Manfred on the return trip. It was worth it. Continue reading “An Old West Hotel in Manfred, North Dakota”
Ghosts of North Dakota 