Grand Forks, city (2020 pop. 59,166),
seat of Grand Forks co., E N.Dak., at the confluence of the Red and the Red
Lake rivers; inc. 1881. In a spring wheat, livestock, and farm area, the
city has grain elevators, state-operated flour mills, and plants that
process and distribute meat, dairy products, sugar beets, and potatoes. The
area was settled by French fur traders who camped at the river junction and
called their campsite La Grandes Fourches [Fr.,=the grand forks].
Grand Forks became an important stop on the Great Northern Railway (now part
of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe). In 1928 the line built huge switching
and storage yards there. The city was severely damaged by flooding in 1997.
The Univ. of North Dakota is there, as is a U.S. Bureau of Mines lignite
research laboratory and a meteorological station. Nearby is the Grand Forks
Air Force Base.
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