Bathgate, ND
Pembina County
Inhabited as of 7/06

Bathgate, ND is in Pembina County, about 15 miles south of the Canadian border. It was founded in 1879 as Bayview, but was re-named for the Scottish city of the same name when the Post Office was established in 1881.

Today, Bathgate has a small population numbering in the dozens.

Bathgate's peak population was just under 900 in the 1890's. Bathgate's most prominent former resident was Norval Baptie, the 1905 world ice skating champion, who re-located to Bathgate from his native Canada in 1880.

The most impressive building in Bathgate [1] is the former North Dakota School for the Blind which was founded in 1908 and continued to operate until it re-located to Grand Forks in 1960.

The building is now owned by a publishing company and the driveway is posted as a "Private Drive". It is beginning to fall into a state of disrepair. The beautiful arched doorways at the entrance now serve as a place to store firewood.

The plaque pictured in photo [11] now sits in front of the building as a memorial to what once was.

During our visit to Bathgate, we had the pleasure of speaking at length with one of the residents who was quite forthcoming with the history of Bathgate, and the locations of its now lost structures.

He informed us the Masonic temple [3] now sits on the site of the former five and dime store, and there used to be an impressive stone bank building directly across the street. He also expressed his dismay at how quickly Bathgate's current property owners demolish the buildings in town once they've been vacant for any length of time.

Sad that more don't recognize the value and heritage of the structures that remain standing.

The street sign pictured in photo [9] is at the edge of present-day Bathgate, but we're told the original townsite extended out to about 13th or 14th street.

According to one of Bathgate's residents, the building in photo [5] is not an original structure from Bathgate. It was apparently moved from somewhere else, and dumped where it now sits.

The bridge in photo [6] is still in fairly good shape despite a little graffiti, but it no longer leads to anywhere of importance. The neighborhood which once existed on its west side no longer exists. However it does afford a beautiful view of the stream which runs through town.

There are also chunks of concrete and remnants of sidewalk piled at the base of the bridge.

There are actually quite a few structures in Bathgate in addition to what's pictured on this page, but due to private property concerns we have decided not to feature them on this website.

Our trip to Bathgate was also captured on video. Watch GND Video Volume 4 on the Video Galleries page.

Click Here to see a county-by-county North Dakota map of the Ghost Towns we've visited.

source material - North Dakota Place Names by Douglas A. Wick, Hedemarken Collectibles

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