BANTRY

List of Places


A great portion of the Bantry information is resourced in MCHENRY COUNTY, Its History and Its People, 1885-1985, also North Dakota Place Names by Douglas Wick and Origins of North Dakota Place Names by Mary Ann Barnes Williams.

1910 City Map

1910 Bantry Township Map




The township [T158 R77] and the city [Section 21] were named for Bantry, county Cork, Ireland, a city of about 3,000 in the early 1900s. There are two different reports on the establishment of a Great Northern Railroad station at Bantry. On 19 June 1905 a station was placed at a newly platted town of Bantry on the 46 mile Towner extension. On 5 October 1905 a station was placed at Bantry on the Granville extension. The Milroy post office was moved to Bantry on 19 July 1905 with John F. Shafer continuing as the Postmaster and then on 5 June 1906 Jennie B. Case was appointed postmaster. The elevation is 1466, the Zip Code is 58713, and a peak population of 315 was reported in 1920, with a decline to just 28 in 1980 and 16 in 2018.
Some of the earlier recorded landowners in the township were: Hendrick Knudtson, September 1900; Sylphyna J. West, September 1900; Henry Elfert, February 1901; Richard Taylor, August 1901; John M. Wagar, August 1901;William Hall, April 1902, Henry Lynch, April 1902, William Odell, August 1902, John F. Shafer, August 1902, and Lemuel Shigley, August 1902.

The following is an article written by Frances Wagar Long [Mrs. William Long] contained in the MCHENRY COUNTY, Its History and Its People, 1885-1985 publication.

A Brief History of Bantry
By Frances Long

The Great Northern Railroad came through the township in 1905 and the town of Bantry became established. The first depot agent was J. C. Wolfe.
The post office was established in about 1906. It was moved into Bantry from the John Shafer farm two miles west of Bantry where it had been operated from the farm home since about 1900. The first remembered post master was W. L. Walton and some of the early day mail carriers were W. C. Doss, John Norris and W. J. Halley.
Early day businesses from 1905 and later were:
Grocery and General Store: Dan Gross owner and operator.
Hardware Store: Tom Fox.
Grocery and General Merchandise: James Clark & M. E. King.
Case & Day Mercantile: T. E. Day & G. R. Case.
Barber Shop: Tom Downley.
Drayman: Bert Lambert, 1908.
Union Bank: Jerome Wagar.
State Bank of Bantry: Jim McIntyre.
There were five elevators in Bantry, four of which were the Farmers Elevator, Atlantic, Cargill and St. Anthony. Billy Wier was an elevator manager.
Butcher Shop: Dan McCaine and Jack Green. Livery Stable: Jack Green.
The first newspaper was the Bantry Advocate with Oscar Fisher as editor and owner.
Implement Dealer: W. L. Walton who sold Emerson plows, corn planters, and Wilbur packers. Later he handled the Minneapolis Moline line of machinery and then had an automobile dealership.
The lumberyard was the Bond Lumber Co. with Jens Jensen and Herman Larsen. Blacksmith: Harry Greenfield. Creamery: The Farmers Co-op, begun in 1910.
Hotel: Charles Hartman. Drug Store: George Miller.
Telephone Exchange was begun in 1907. The first operator was Lucille Mulcare.
The first doctor in Bantry was Dr. Carswell who came from Canada.
There were three churches: the Evangelical Church whose first pastor was Rev. George Hoy; the Methodist Church; and the Catholic Church which began around 1912 when a building was moved into Bantry from Layton Township where it had served as a school house.
Bantry School: It is not known just what year the school in town opened. There were three schools in the township. The first school term in town was held in the township hall. Some early day teachers were Joseph Hogan, Erma Smith who later became the superintendent of schools for McHenry County, Harris Rude, Caroline Dromeater (later Mrs. Thomas Shea,), Miss Brownly, Miss Dailey, Rosalie Becker, Bertha Castleman, Miss Hanson, Mr. McCrakerin and Smith Taylor.
Other early day residents in Bantry were the Jim Olivers, the Dawsons, the Bruces and Lowmans, Tom Healy, John MacFarland, Herb Ellis, Phil La Fleaur, Jim Gillespie, Clarence Gilbertson, Tom Brownley, Percy Townsley, Sam Taylor, Margaret Ann Mayo, Maude Black, Minnie Mear, the Weblens and Tobe Parks to name ust a few.