Harwood, ND

Harwood was platted in 1881 when the Great Northern Railroad reached the site, and the city’s name came from A. J. Harwood, a Fargo real-estate dealer who owned the townsite. A post office followed that same year, giving the new place a regular link to the surrounding prairie. Today Harwood sits in Cass County within the Fargo-Moorhead area, so its local shape comes from two eras at once: a railroad town laid out in the nineteenth century and a small city tied to a nearby metro. The quick local read is simple—Great Northern tracks, a townsite owner, and Fargo close by.