A great portion of this Bergen 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 Voltaire Township Map

A post office was established 7 November 1905 with Oscar Sawby as Postmaster, and named for Bergen, Norway, homeland of many area settlers. The Soo Line Railroad reached here in 1907, and the village located in Section 12, Voltaire Township incorporated in 1929. A population of 98 was reported in 1930, but that figure declined to just 24 in 1980 and 8 in 2018. The post office, Zip Code 58717, closed 9 January 1979.

From the MCHENRY COUNTY, Its History and Its People, 1885-1985:
Bergen History
By Herbie Olson

Bergen was organized in 1903. It was then located on the north side of the railroad tracks. Due to the gumbo condition of the site, the town was moved to its present location in 1905.

Bergen began to grow quite rapidly, several business places were soon established. A hotel was built in 1905 by Lars and Clara Koppang. A large building was built of cement blocks in 1906. This was a divided building with the Leine Mercantile Store in the east half and the Johnson Brothers Hardware was housed in the west half. The First State Bank was built in 1907 and owned and operated by Martin Apland and Henry Sorlien. The bank closed in 1923.

A meat market was built by Frank E. Cox. In 1910 Joe Neubauer purchased the meat market and operated it until his death in September, 1924. The first depot in Bergen was a box car. In 1910 the Soo Line Railway erected a new depot which was one of the finest in the area. Due to the slowdown of railway business it was closed in 1968.

In 1907 Martin Benum opened a general store. This store was operated until 1934 by Martin Benum and then was taken over by Otto Baden. As Bergen continued to grow another general store was opened by A. M. Holte in 1911. This store closed in 1918. The John Nelson family came to Bergen in the late 1920's and built a store along Highway 52. This store was later sold to Harry Huseby and subsequently operated by Nels Huseby until it was sold.

Several business in Bergen opened and flourished for a few years and then closed. Some of these were the Kellog Brothers Hardware Store, a cash store, barber shops, pool halls and confectionery stores. When telephone lines were built in 1908 a telephone office was also built. As the population of the town began to decrease the central office gradually closed.

Bergen was at its peak around the year 1924. In 1915 the Farmers Bank was organized. N. J. Larson and Edward Larson were the cashiers. This bank was housed in the north portion of the T. G. Glesne store. The bank was closed in 1925. The Glesne building, one of the town's oldest landmarks, was destroyed by fire In 1937.

The first post office was established in Bergen in 1905. In 1907 a mail route was laid out north of Bergen. Henry Kocher was the first mail carrier and continued to serve on this route until 1934.

In 1913 Henry Heggen, Martin Apland and Henry Sorlein secured the Ford agency. Henry Heggen managed the business for many years. The agency was then bought by Charlie Drake who continued the business until 1929.

At one time there were five grain elevators in Bergen. One remains and is used for storage purposes, the others were moved out of town and one was razed. The International Harvester Machinery Co. was owned and operated by the Helstedt [ Lars, Rudy ] brothers in the late 1920's and early 1930's. The Rogers Lumberyard operated for several years and in the early days there was a livery barn, feed mill and several blacksmith shops, the last one owned and operated by Arthur Haga.

The first school house in Bergen was a one room school, replaced in 1917 by a new brick building. The school consisted of the elementary grades and four years of high school. On January 1, 1954 the brick building was destroyed by fire. A new building was constructed the same year and continued to operate until 1965.

Two church congregations were organized in Bergen during its years of existance: the Bergen Evangelical Lutheran Church in 1905 whose activities were discontinued in 1965, and the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church. Their services were discontinued in 1940. The two former churches have their cemetery east of town on a side hill, really a lovely location.

The Bergen community is a beautiful area.