Kindred, ND

Kindred is a Cass County city about 25 miles southwest of Fargo, laid out when the railroad reached the area in 1880. William A. Kindred and J. S. Huntington purchased the townsite from the Northern Pacific Railroad that year, and Kindred supplied the name. The older school district predates the rail plat: Kindred Public School District 2 was organized in 1875 and still runs the local K-12 system. That combination gives the place its basic shape, a railroad town that became part of the Fargo area without losing its own school and city address. The surrounding Red River Valley is agricultural, and Fargo is the larger regional reference point. Kindred is a small North Dakota city where the rail line marks the start, the school district gives it continuity, and the road to Fargo sets its current orientation.