CHARBONNEAU

NAME: Charbonneau
COUNTY: McKenzie
ROADS: 2WD
GRID: 1
CLIMATE: A lot of snow in winter, quite warm in the summer
BEST TIME TO VISIT: Early summer
COMMENTS: I think the county it's in is Dunn but I'm not sure, it is near Williston right by the North Dakota/Montana border. 2 grain elevators, a school, and a cemetery.
REMAINS: Some old houses and an old abandoned grain elevator

Zero residents, I was passing through there many years ago and I witnessed a house that was abandoned that had lights on and there was smoke coming from the chimney. I am not sure of it's history for I am not from there, but it has been deserted for some time, possibly 20 to 30 years or more. Submitted by: Mike W.

The post office in Charbonneau was closed sometime in the 1960s. The post office stamp window, clerk's area, etc., is now part of the Lewis and Clark Trail Museum in Alexander, ND. Alexander is about halfway between Williston and Watford City on highway US 85. Evert Makinen Williston 10-12-00

UPDATE: One correction on Charbonneau, ND. The town is in McKenzie County, not Dunn County as someone said. It's about 18-20 miles south of Williston and a few miles west. The townsite is in township 151N-102W. This is at least 30 miles or so away from Dunn County, as the mule plies. It's on the old Great Northern RR grade (no rails there anymore - but an old grain elevator is) about 5 or 6 miles west of US 85 on State 200 and then a couple miles south on a graded county road. An added benefit of visiting Charbonneau is going west to Cartwright (not deserted) and in the general vicinity visiting a RR lift bridge and the only RR tunnel in North Dakota. Best wishes, Evert Makinen Williston


Charbonneau from the Northeast
Courtesy Matt Rothchild


Charbonneau School
Courtesy Matt Rotchild


Charbonneau Grain Elevator
Courtesy Matt Rothchild

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