Omemee, North Dakota facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Omemee, North Dakota
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Omemee
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Location of Omemee, North Dakota
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Omemee at center
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| Country | United States |
| State | North Dakota |
| County | Bottineau County |
| Township | Willow Vale |
| Legislative district | 6th |
| Founded | 1887 |
| Incorporated | 1902 |
| Disincorporated | ca. 1990 |
| Elevation | 1,513 ft (461 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Area code(s) | 701 |
| FIPS code | 38-59420 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1030570 |
Omemee is a ghost town in Bottineau County, North Dakota. A ghost town is a place where almost no one lives anymore, and many buildings are empty or gone. Omemee was once an important railroad spot in the early 1900s. It was located where two big railroads, the Soo Line Railroad and the Great Northern Railway, met. Omemee became an official city in 1902 but has been empty since 2003.
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History of Omemee
Omemee was started in 1887 in Willow Vale Township. It got its name from Omemee, Ontario, in Canada. This was the hometown of the first person to run Omemee's post office. The name "Omemee" comes from the Ojibwe word omimi, which means "dove."
The town's post office opened in 1890. It closed in 1967, and mail then went to nearby Willow City. Omemee became an official city in 1902. In 1903, the town was moved a little bit. This was so it could be right at the meeting point of the Great Northern Railway and the Soo Line Railway. Omemee stopped being an official city before the 1990 Census. Today, no one lives there.
In 1906, a report said Omemee was the fourth largest town in Bottineau County. Many people thought it would grow a lot because it was a railroad hub. They believed it would become the main railroad center for the county.
In 1906, Omemee had many businesses. These included general stores, banks, hotels, a restaurant, and a school. It also had an opera house and a newspaper called the Omemee Herald. The Omemee Brick Company had a factory three miles north of town. The town was also proud of its 22-member brass band. They said it was "one of the best" in the state.
However, the town did not have a company to help it grow. Because of this, the big population boom that people expected never happened. The town slowly got smaller over the years.
In 1998, a museum in Canada bought and fixed up an old train car. This car was a "sleeper car" from 1906, where people could sleep on long trips. It was named Omemee to honor the old train station. You can now see this train car at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Today, almost nothing is left of the town. There is an old electric line and two buildings that are falling apart.
The old town bell from Omemee is now on display. You can see it in front of the Bottineau County Historical Museum in Bottineau, N.D..
Geography of Omemee
Omemee is located in the eastern part of Bottineau County. It sits in the Souris River basin. This area was once part of a huge ancient lake called Lake Souris. This large glacial lake shaped much of the land around Omemee.
East of the town, the land gently rises and falls. These small hills are called moraines. They were formed by glaciers and then smoothed out by the waves of the ancient lake. If you look beyond where the lake used to be, you can see much taller, rougher hills. This shows how much the lake's waves flattened the hills that were once under its water.
Population Changes in Omemee
| Historical population | |||
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| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1910 | 332 | — | |
| 1920 | 222 | −33.1% | |
| 1930 | 170 | −23.4% | |
| 1940 | 123 | −27.6% | |
| 1950 | 60 | −51.2% | |
| 1960 | 11 | −81.7% | |
| 1970 | 5 | −54.5% | |
| 1980 | 10 | 100.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
In 1906, Omemee had a high population of 650 people. But by the 1910 Census, its population had dropped to 332. The number of people living in Omemee kept going down each decade. By the 1970 Census, only 5 people lived there. However, the 1980 Census showed a small increase to 10 people.
When Omemee stopped being an official city, the 1990 Census reported only three people still living there. The area then became part of Willow Vale Township. In the 2000 Census, Willow Vale Township had a population of 34 people.
In the early 1900s, German settlers built an evangelical church in Omemee.
Notable People from Omemee
- Matt Johnson (1871 – 1935) was the editor of the Omemee Herald newspaper. He also served as a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives from 1909 to 1910.
