75 years later: How the discovery of oil in ND shaped the community that started it all

By: Jacob Orledge

Outlets: North Dakota Monitor

Published: April 2, 2026

Words: 1,554

Last Updated: 2 months, 2 weeks ago

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TIOGA, N.D. – Dirt roads. No sewer. No running water. Tioga was a town of 456 people built along a railroad, with agriculture serving as the economic lifeblood for hardy homesteaders who had settled the area.

The community’s fortunes changed in the early morning hours of April 4, 1951. The Clarence Iverson well, surrounded by deep drifts of snow from recent blizzards, struck oil a few miles south of Tioga.

That discovery touched off 75 …

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