The history of Fargo begins with the railroad. Details of this early history and the Northern Pacific Railroad can be find on the page about Fargo's beginnings. The Northern Pacific railroad reached Fargo in June of 1872. In February of 1872, the Northern Pacific Railroad filed a railroad plat of its road through Dakota Territory. The original townsite of Fargo was platted out of Section Seven and file for record in the Cass County Deeds Office in January 1874.

A decade later, in 1882, the Great Northern Railroad built a bridge across the Red River about a mile north of the Northern Pacific Bridge. The Great Northern ran north to Grand Forks, and then west to the coast. These two railroad lines formed twin transportation backbones for Fargo for nearly a century. In 1970, they combined to form the Burlington Northern Railroad and, a year later, became part of AMTRAK.

One other railroad also served Fargo for many years—the Fargo and Southern Railroad—formed by 23 Fargo businessmen. The owners built a handsome brick depot but unfortunately, financial troubles forced the sale of the railway to the Milwaukee Railroad which continued passenger operation in Fargo until 1931. Freight operations continued until 1961.

Pages about Fargo railroads can be found through the links below: