Oldest Dams in North Dakota

North Dakota has 817 dams with recorded construction dates. The oldest dates to 1881 — 145 years ago. North Dakota's earliest dams were built in the 19th century, an era of westward expansion, irrigation development, and early water infrastructure. Older dams require particular attention for safety, as many were built before modern engineering standards.

#	Dam	County	Year Built	Age	Height (ft)	Hazard	Condition
1	Fort Ransom Dam	Ransom	1881	145 yrs	15	Low	Not Rated
2	Valley City Mill Dam	Barnes	1882	144 yrs	24	Low	Not Rated
3	Lisbon Dam	Ransom	1890	136 yrs	19	Low	Not Rated
4	Jamestown Ice House Dam	Stutsman	1890	136 yrs	8	Low	Not Rated
5	Ray Railroad Dam	Williams	1890	136 yrs	20	Low	Not Rated
6	Queen City Dam	Stark	1900	126 yrs	34	High	Poor
7	Niagara Railroad Dam 1	Grand Forks	1905	121 yrs	16	Low	Not Rated
8	North Lemmon Lake Dam	Adams	1908	118 yrs	37	Significant	Not Rated
9	Sykeston Dam	Wells	1908	118 yrs	27	Low	Not Rated
10	Mirror Lake Dam	Adams	1909	117 yrs	19	Significant	Not Rated
11	Glen Ullin Railroad Dam 1	Morton	1909	117 yrs	16	Low	Not Rated
12	Raleigh Dam	Grant	1910	116 yrs	54	Significant	Not Rated
13	Mott City Dam	Hettinger	1910	116 yrs	25	Low	Not Rated
14	Flasher Dam	Morton	1910	116 yrs	12	Low	Not Rated
15	Mcville Railroad Dam	Nelson	1910	116 yrs	37	Significant	Not Rated
16	Belfield Railroad Dam	Stark	1910	116 yrs	20	Significant	Not Rated
17	Koldok Railroad Dam	Barnes	1911	115 yrs	15	Low	Not Rated
18	Williams Dam S W	Golden Valley	1920	106 yrs	15	Low	Not Rated
19	Cathay Dam	Wells	1920	106 yrs	11	Low	Not Rated
20	Harvey Dam	Wells	1920	106 yrs	35	Significant	Not Rated
21	Grand Forks Riverside Park Dam	Grand Forks	1925	101 yrs	19	Low	Not Rated
22	Fargo 4th Street South Dam	Cass	1929	97 yrs	10	Low	Not Rated
23	Lords Lake Dam	Bottineau	1930	96 yrs	7	Low	Poor
24	Thompson Dam; Robert	Bowman	1930	96 yrs	14	Low	Not Rated
25	Ringwall Dam; Chester	Burke	1930	96 yrs	8	Low	Not Rated
26	Rosefield Slough Dam	Eddy	1930	96 yrs	7	Low	Not Rated
27	Appert Lake Dam	Emmons	1930	96 yrs	10	Low	Poor
28	Karey Dam	Hettinger	1930	96 yrs	8	Low	Not Rated
29	Kilzer Dam; Edmund	Hettinger	1930	96 yrs	19	Low	Not Rated
30	G19 Dam	Kidder	1930	96 yrs	9	Low	Fair
31	Lost Lake Wpa 2	McLean	1930	96 yrs	10	Low	Not Rated
32	Lake Susie Dam	McLean	1930	96 yrs	15	Low	Fair
33	Lambs Lake Dam	Nelson	1930	96 yrs	10	Low	Satisfactory
34	Buffalo Lake Dam	Pierce	1930	96 yrs	12	Low	Poor
35	164-073-25s	Rolette	1930	96 yrs	30	Low	Not Rated
36	Willow Lake Dam	Rolette	1930	96 yrs	16	Low	Not Rated
37	Belcourt Lake	Rolette	1930	96 yrs	13	High	Poor
38	Storm Lake Dam	Sargent	1930	96 yrs	13	Low	Not Rated
39	Si's Dam; West	Sioux	1930	96 yrs	21	Low	Not Rated
40	Manns Dam	Stark	1930	96 yrs	12	Low	Not Rated
41	Lefor Dam; Kenneth 2	Stark	1930	96 yrs	13	Low	Not Rated
42	Snyder Lake Dam	Towner	1930	96 yrs	10	Low	Poor
43	Solberg Dam; Dorvan	Williams	1930	96 yrs	10	Low	Not Rated
44	Arrowwood Dam	Stutsman	1931	95 yrs	7	Low	Not Rated
45	Dakota Lake Dam	Dickey	1932	94 yrs	10	Low	Not Rated
46	Beach Dam	Golden Valley	1932	94 yrs	17	High	Poor
47	Hutton Wpa	Bottineau	1933	93 yrs	13	Low	Not Rated
48	Fargo 12th Avenue North Dam	Cass	1933	93 yrs	8	Low	Not Rated
49	Fargo 32nd Avenue South Dam	Cass	1933	93 yrs	10	Low	Not Rated
50	Warwick Dam	Eddy	1933	93 yrs	11	Low	Not Rated

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