Grand Forks, ND

Grand Forks developed where the Red Lake River joins the north-flowing Red River, a meeting and trading place for Native people for thousands of years. French Canadian fur traders called the site Les Grandes Fourches. In late 1870, steamboat captain Alexander Griggs was forced to winter there when his vessel froze in the river; he later platted the community. A post office opened in 1870, and Grand Forks incorporated in 1881. The county seat stands on the North Dakota side of the river opposite East Grand Forks, Minnesota, and the two cities form a shared metropolitan center. Grand Forks counted 59,166 residents in 2020 and an estimated 59,845 in 2024. After the devastating 1997 flood, the Greater Grand Forks Greenway created a riverfront floodplain park with paths, festival grounds, ski trails, and wildflower gardens. The University of North Dakota is the state’s oldest university and contains its only medical and law schools.