Hamberg

Overview

A railroad town running down

Hamberg was founded in 1910 on the Great Northern line in eastern Wells County, about 20 miles east of Harvey. Old postcards show a depot with a Great Northern train pulling in and an opera house with men posed out front. The census counted 187 people in 1930, and the number fell every decade after: 64 by 1960, 19 by 1990. Hamberg is still an incorporated city, with 11 people in 2020.

The center of town has been empty for years. The streets are dirt and overgrown with weeds; the old masonry has held up better than the wooden buildings. The bank, the post office, the school and the church have all closed, and the few remaining residents get their mail at outdoor mailboxes.

Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp of Ghosts of North Dakota photographed Hamberg in 2008, when about 21 people lived there. The weathered two-storey school was the town's landmark. Four years later, on April 1, 2012, a controlled burn got out of hand and the school burned to the ground, which makes their pictures of it the last.

Then and now

Hamberg from the air, 1941 and 2023

Hamberg had 187 people at the 1930 census and 164 at the 1940 one. On July 26, 1941, a U.S. Department of Agriculture survey plane photographed it: a grid of streets north of the Great Northern tracks, with houses and outbuildings on most lots, and buildings beside the tracks. The second photograph comes from the federal farm survey of September 17, 2023.

The streets, the railroad and the section roads are where they were. The census counted 41 people in 1980 and 11 in 2020, and the later photograph shows fewer buildings, with trees grown up across the blocks. Northeast of town, where there were fields in 1941, there is now a loop of track and a row of grain bins.

RailroadAn elevator and bins by the tracksThe same streets, fewer buildingsGrain bins and a loop of track2023

Railroad: Great NorthernBuildings by the tracksStreets lined with buildingsFields1941

Railroad: Great NorthernBuildings by the tracksStreets lined with buildingsFields1941

RailroadAn elevator and bins by the tracksThe same streets, fewer buildingsGrain bins and a loop of track2023

1941: U.S. Department of Agriculture; scan by the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, source, Public domain. 2023: U.S. Department of Agriculture NAIP, via USGS The National Map, source, Public domain. Both photographs cover the same 1.6 by 1.2 km and were lined up on 20 points on street and road junctions, the railroad and field edges, to within about 1 m. Labels: the Great Northern from the guide's history, the rest from what the photographs show.

Timeline

Census by census

1. 1910Hamberg is founded on the Great Northern line in Wells County.
2. Early yearsA depot and an opera house stand in town, as old postcards show; neither was left by 2008.
3. 1930The census counts 187 people.
4. 1940–1980164, then 124, 64, 51 and 41.
5. 199019 people.
6. 2008Ghosts of North Dakota finds about 21 residents, the empty two-storey school, the post office, false-fronted stores, a white steepled church and empty houses.
7. Apr 1, 2012A controlled burn gets away and the school burns to the ground.
8. 2020The census counts 11 people.

The census figure rose from 19 in 1990 to 28 in 2000 before falling again, to 21 in 2010 and 11 in 2020.

What's left

Main street without the school

Without the school, Hamberg's landmarks are on its short main street: the post office, with mailboxes under a shelter beside it, the bank and the false-fronted stores. The white church with its red-roofed spire stands between tall spruces at the end of the street. Several houses had been left to the trees by 2008. Some homes are lived in and private.

On the historic maps, the 1943 and 1951 sheets show Hamberg's grid of streets north of the railroad, with a few dozen buildings; by the 1981 sheet only the name and a few roads are left beside the line.

• Post office and outdoor mailboxes
• Bank and false-fronted stores
• White church with a red spire
• Empty houses
• School site (burned 2012)
• Lived-in homes (private)

Photo walk

Hamberg in 2008

These are Troy Larson's and Terry Hinnenkamp's pictures from their 2008 visit, from the full-size originals they released. Their gallery folder and Troy Larson's camera date the visit June 1, 2008; the blog's first Hamberg post is dated May 10, 2008, so we give the year only.

The school stood at the edge of town, two storeys of weathered siding with a hipped roof and a collapsing entry porch.

Down the dirt streets, past the church spire, stood the post office and the false-fronted stores. It was a quiet morning.

Around the edges, houses and sheds were going back to the trees.

The school burned to the ground on April 1, 2012, when a controlled burn got away.

Historic maps

Hamberg on USGS maps, 1943–1981

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19431:62,50019511:24,00019711:250,00019811:100,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Harvey is the closest city, about 40 minutes away by US 52, ND 15 and ND 30. From Minot the route follows US 52 southeast to the same turn.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Hamberg in photos

The school alone on the open grass under a blue sky, 2008An old sidewalk overgrown with grass, leading to a building, 2008A row of old trucks parked in the grass at the edge of the trees, 2008The post office, 2008

Great thanks go out to Ghosts of North Dakota, Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp, who released their photographs into the public domain so that their work on North Dakota's abandoned places can live on.

Visitor reports

Been to Hamberg?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Hamberg

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our North Dakota index.

• Josephine15.4 mi NE · Benson
• Heaton19.7 mi S · Wells
• Orrin37.7 mi NW · Pierce
• Churchs Ferry37.9 mi NE · Ramsey
• Denhoff39.9 mi SW · Sheridan
• Mose51.0 mi E · Griggs
• Arena53.3 mi SW · Burleigh
• Nanson57.3 mi N · Rolette

Sources

Sources and credits

1. ghosttowns.com, "Hamberg": county, road, climate, best time, 20 miles east of Harvey, the 2000 population, dirt streets, the abandoned bank, post office, school and church, outdoor mailboxes.
2. Wikipedia, "Hamberg, North Dakota", retrieved October 2026: coordinates, the 1910 founding, the census figures from 1930 to 2020.
3. Ghosts of North Dakota, "Disappearing Hamberg, North Dakota", on the 2008 visit: about 21 residents, the school, post office, stores, church and empty houses; updated with the school fire of April 1, 2012.
4. Ghosts of North Dakota, "Ten Lost North Dakota Places", November 2, 2013: the school lost to fire on April 1, 2012.
5. Ghosts of North Dakota, "More Abandoned Hamberg", February 2, 2014: further 2008 photos of the houses, the bus, the church, the school entry and the post office.
6. Ghosts of North Dakota, "Hamberg Flashback", June 23, 2017: postcards of the depot with a Great Northern train and of the opera house, neither standing in 2008.
7. Photos: Troy Larson and Terry Hinnenkamp, Ghosts of North Dakota: full-size originals from their public-domain Hamberg gallery (posted November 13, 2022), dated June 1, 2008 by the folder name and by Troy Larson's camera (Terry Hinnenkamp's camera clock was unset); public domain (CC0) by the authors' release of August 29, 2022.
8. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The school alone on the open grass under a blue sky, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• An old sidewalk overgrown with grass, leading to a building, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A row of old trucks parked in the grass at the edge of the trees, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The post office, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The front of the Hamberg school, its entry porch sagging, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The school and a brick building across the grass, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The school's entry, one door hanging open, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• Looking through the school's open door to the stairs inside, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• An old bus rusting beside the school, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• Inside the old bus, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A dirt street past the church and its spruces, with the school at the far end, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A street with the church steeple and a metal-clad building, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• Main street with the post office at right and a false-fronted building beyond, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A garage and a false-fronted building on the street to the church, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The post office and the mailbox shelter beside it, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A small building with red-trimmed windows on a lawn, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A false-fronted store with broken windows, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The same store from the side, its long shed behind, an elevator in the distance, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• The white church with its red roof and spire, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A street corner with buildings and the church spire, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A weathered two-storey house with a barn behind, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A house collapsing among trees, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A collapsing house overgrown with vines, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A small house almost hidden by trees, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A weathered house behind a mailbox, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A white house overgrown by trees and brush, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A long weathered building among trees, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A small white house with a red chimney, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• A white garage and a green shed among trees, 2008: Ghosts of North Dakota, source, CC0 1.0
• 1941 aerial photograph: U.S. Department of Agriculture; scan by the North Dakota Department of Water Resources, source, Public domain
• 2023 aerial photograph: U.S. Department of Agriculture NAIP, via USGS The National Map, source, Public domain
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Maddock 1943, 1:62,500; Hamberg 1951, 1:24,000; New Rockford 1971, 1:250,000; New Rockford 1981, 1:100,000.