A Brief History of Sims, North Dakota, compiled by Charles T. Tatum, Jr.

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Before 1878, the Northern Pacific surveyors made their way west from Mandan, North Dakota and discovered a valley now known as Sims Valley. A thick vein of coal was discovered in 1878 when the NPRR was extending their road bed. Thanks to the coal, clay, and ample running spring water that did not freeze in the winter, a station was built. Trains could now take on water all year round. In 1879, the railroad tracks reached the new stop.

Sims wnet through a few names at first. Baby Mine and Bly's Mine were considered, as was Carbon, named for a new brick plant. Sims was named after George V. Sims, chief clerk in the executive office of the railroad in New York, on July 5, 1879. It is also reported that the town was named for a Captain W.H. Sims, a northern Missouri River boat captain. 1879 also saw the opening of the N.P. Coal Company by Charles W. Thompson.

Charles William Thompson was a native of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and the son of an Army general. He went to Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and attended the U.S. Military Academy, before becoming a civil engineer for the South Pacific Railway. Thompson was a colonel in the National Guard Dakota, and fought in the Indian Wars.

The mines grew until there were seven in operation. A post office was established on May 2, 1883, with Theodore Shenkenberg serving as postmaster. The same year, the NPRR platted the townsite. Thompson also opened the first store in May, and organized a bank in July with himself as president and Shenkenberg as cashier. The bank was constructed but never opened. In 1884, the output from the coal mine was about 100 tons a day, taken from five different veins.

The coal company built a $15,000 hotel, which was opened to the public as the Oakes House. It was the largest hotel west of Fargo, according to some. Thompson was then the general manager of the coal company.

Charles W. Thompson also opened a brick yard in Sims. The Carbon Pressed Brick and Lime Company had Thompson as president, W.A. Dows as vice president, and J.H. Hansel as secretary and treasurer. Thompson had the contract to build the first state capitol building. Sims brick went into many local buildings, and the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan. It is said that Sims lost the county seat designation to Mandan by just one vote.

Also in 1884, the community organized the Sims Skandinavian Evangelical Lutheran Congregation. The members built a parsonage and held services in the top story, and the minister and his family lived on the main floor. The members got the needed materials to construct their church from an abandoned building in Sims. The church was also said to be the oldest Lutheran church west of the Missouri River.

As Sims was growing, the railroad would send in work gangs of over a hundred people. They would dig ovens in the surrounding hills, and the smell of baked bread woul be evident for miles. Since Sims was the main shipping point west of Mandan, there was a 21-pen stockyard west of the depot. Herds from as far away as South Dakota were driven there for delivery to Chicago or St. Paul.

At its peak, the town was over a mile long. Two additions, Balasta and Ramstown, were added to the town. Sims boasted saloons, a brick schoolhouse, three stores, a lumber yard, two real estate offices, and a Presbyterian church. A fortress was dug out on top of the Anderson hill for protection against Native Americans. The coal mines and brick yard employed over 500 people, with Sims' population being well over a thousand at this time.

The old central part of the state capitol in Bismarck was faced with brick from Sims. It was light colored, and considered very attractive. Unfortunately, the surface began to crumble. The clay from Sims had specks of lime, which slacked and left holes in the brick. The $30,000 brick plant was abandoned. Hard coal was discovered in Montana, so the railroad decided to close the Sims mines in favor of the new hard coal. Speculators not interested in settling moved on as well.

Charles W. Thompson ended up in Washington state in 1890. He became president of Washington Cooperative Mining Syndicate, and Montezuma Mining Company. He owned several valuable copper, gold, and silver properties in Pierce County, Washington. He made his home in Tacoma, Washington and later died.

Sims, North Dakota died as well. In 1906, the population was 300. In 1910, Sims could claim just 86. On October 31, 1947, the post office was discontinued and the mail was routed to Almont. The town continued with a few businesses until December of 1947 when a railroad line change took place. A new line went from New Salem to Glen Ullin, cutting off Sims, Almont, and Curlew. The railroad tracks were taken up a year later. In 1975, Sims had a population of one, and it disappeared from most state atlases and road maps.
--Charles T. Tatum, Jr.

SOURCES:
Almont Golden Jubilee 1906-1956, Almont, ND: 1956.

Crawford, Lewis F., History of North Dakota, Vol. 1, Chicago and New York: The American Historical Society, Inc., 1931.

Fristad, Paula, Historical Mandan and Morton County: Early Days to 1970, Mandan, ND: 1970.

Gallagher, John S., and Patera, Alan H., North Dakota Post Offices 1850-1982, Burtonsville, MD: The Depot, 1982.

Peterson, Marion Plath, ed., Morton Prairie Roots, Dallas, TX: Taylor Publishing Co., 1975.

"Thompson, Charles William," Who Was Who in America, Vol. !: 1897-1942, Chicago: Marquis Publications, 1968.

Tostevin, Sarah, ed., "Mantani" A History of Mandan- Morton County including Fort McKeen and Fort Abraham Lincoln 1738 to 1964, Mandan, ND: 1964.