History Tuttle, North Dakota

according tuttle 50th anniversary book published in 1961, tuttle named col. william p. tuttle, official in dakota land & townsite company platted town in 1910. col. tuttle reportedly never lived in tuttle, fond of town , once purchased baseball uniforms local team. northern pacific railway laid track through tuttle on october 4, 1911. service between tuttle , pingree east started later month. on january 21, 1917, fire destroyed miller general store , several other tuttle businesses. citizens responded , able save other businesses flames. following fire, citizens met organize volunteer fire department exists day. j.w. wittmayer elected first fire chief of tuttle.

many family histories recorded in anniversary book tell of extreme hardships weather can produce severe cold , blizzards in winter , blazing heat , strong storms in summer. on july 3, 1935 @ 9 am, town experienced notable weather event. strong wind came first , hail started falling and, combined drenching rain, caused significant damage tuttle , surrounding areas. reportedly, every window facing north , west broken in homes , business places. despite damage, july 4 independence day celebration occurred planned. on july 1, 1952, 7:00 pm, tornado struck tuttle in evening. clouds in sky reportedly looked threatening. tornado drew closer town, residents reported hearing sound hundreds of freight trains bearing down. funnel not seen in tuttle there dust in air, people south of town reported seeing clearly. tornado heavily damaged several homes in tuttle, majority not touched.

2007 particularly difficult year tuttle. in year, tuttle school closed. danielson hotel, abandoned hotel landmark on tuttle s main street, demolished. on november 19, 2007, tuttle post office building, historic field stone structure created in 1938 wpa project, damaged after furnace ignited , fire gutted building. resulting smoke plume visible many miles. although fieldstone walls still stand, future of building in doubt.

like many other small towns on north american great plains settled in 20th century, century after founding tuttle has experienced closure of many business has paralleled population trend of outmigration of young people larger cities , subsequent aging of population. today, tuttle without bank, school , newspaper, home stocked co-op grocery store , grain elevator. although railroad track caused tuttle platted removed around 2004, improved roads , access interstate 94 has reduced isolation of tuttle. cities of bismarck , jamestown approximately one-hour drive tuttle, , therefore accessible tuttle residents.