Over the Years

50 YEARS AGO
August 29, 1957 — Hillsboro city streets were torn up in order to install new water mains. The railroad crossings were also the focus of an improvement project.
Gundy’s Radio and TV in Hillsboro premiered the new RCA Victor Microsharp television. The super console cost $239.95.
Coast to Coast Hardware advertised a Robin Hood lunch kit for $2.89 and a three-speed phonograph for $19.95.
For the first time in history all Traill County schools planned to operate on a nine-month calendar. Classes were to start Sept. 3. (more…)

50 YEARS AGO
August 22, 1957 — Hillsboro city superintendent Ralph Byars urged city leaders to add a second water supply line from the wells west of town to the water tower. The 20-year-old line had proven too small, only delivering 90 gallons per minute to the city. Pumps had to run 24 hours a day in the late summer months to refill the tank overnight.
Traill County hired a Moorhead firm to develop a farm identification system to be used by rural fire departments and Civil Defense. The project would include a numbering system for all rural residences as well as signs and mapping.
The Belmont Pee Wees won the county pee wee baseball tourney. (more…)

50 YEARS AGO
August 8, 1957 — Fourteen farmers from townships surrounding Hillsboro asked the Hillsboro Fire Department to consider creating and serving a rural fire district. A new state law allowed for the establishment of rural fire districts which would be funded by local residents. Officials estimated the cost would be about $200 a year for each of the four townships involved.
Dennis Jacobson was the new operator of Jerry’s Hi-way Service, a gas station and cafe on Hillsboro’s northern edge. (more…)

50 YEARS AGO
August 1, 1957 — Wheat harvest got an early start in the county. Meanwhile the barley crop was running about 35 bushels per acre.
The “combination special” at the A&K Dairy Bar was a hot dog and chocolate malt for 39 cents. The Hillsboro eatery urged diners to try their “mouthwatering shakes from our new Sweden Shake Maker.”
Vandals fouled the Hillsboro swimming pool with nine dead bullheads.
The Eldorado Farmers 4-H Club earned kudos from N.D. Highway Patrolman Orvin Anderson for their safety project. The clubmembers erected “dead end” signs on four township roads, including one that had been the site of at least three accidents. (more…)