{"id":374,"slug":"sherbrooke-sherbrooke-north-dakota","story":[{"heading":null,"paragraphs":["Sherbrooke is the staked — the 'railroad promised' that's the hope's form, the 'stakes plowed' that's the wait's mark. The 'McKinley stayed' is the boasted — the '1896' that's the president's visit, the 'hotel' that's the town's pride. The 'seat lost' is the died — the '1919' that's the vote's year, the 'no rails' that's the reason's truth.","The 'court ruled' is the ended — the 'Supreme' that's the appeal's court, the 'accessible' that's the law's word. The 'houses moved' is the gone — the 'Finley' that's the winner's name, the 'tribune left' that's the paper's end. Sherbrooke is the almost — the 'county seat' that's the '85's rank, the 'ghost' that's the now's state.","The file keeps Sherbrooke: the staked rails, the president's stay, the lost seat, and the moved houses.","Sherbrooke is the archive's North Dakota file — the county seat that waited for a train that never came."]},{"heading":"Why this file matters","paragraphs":["Sherbrooke is the archive's North Dakota file — the seat that lost to a railroad.","A town keeps its stakes — the file's suggestion being that Sherbrooke's hold is the promised: the 'survey stakes' that's the hope's mark, the 'McKinley' that's the pride's peak, and the 'no rails' that's the death's cause."]}],"name":"Sherbrooke","aliases":[],"type":"GHOST_TOWN","type_label":"Ghost Town","cats":["GHOST_TOWN"],"groups":["ghost-towns"],"desc":"Ghost town associated with documented cultural history.","full_desc":"Sherbrooke is a ghost town in Sherbrooke, North Dakota. Ghost town associated with documented cultural history. HauntHunt files it with ghost towns. The dossier holds 2 documented facts — the record is history-forward, no paranormal claims on file. Access details are unverified — research before visiting. The dossier keeps the place and the story in the same record — which is what the archive is for.","address":null,"city":"Sherbrooke","county":"Steele","state":"North Dakota","postal":null,"region":"Midwest","lat":47.45106,"lon":-97.78392,"coord_kind":"COUNTY","status":"UNKNOWN","access":"UNKNOWN","access_notes":null,"ownership":null,"website":null,"phone":null,"year_built":null,"year_opened":null,"year_closed":null,"year_demolished":null,"designation":null,"current_use":null,"research_notes":"2022 webpage republishes a May 23, 2016 segment. Its no-residents statement is not treated as a 2026 census. Founding-year variants require separate plat research; year unset.","stage":"SOURCE_RESEARCH","quality":{"level":"MEDIUM","score":57.9,"dims":{"location_confidence":0.75,"identity_confidence":0.85,"historical_confidence":0.8,"source_quality":1,"paranormal_claim_provenance":null,"coordinate_confidence":0,"current_access_confidence":0,"freshness":0.65}},"claims":[],"history":[{"description":"The former county seat declined after government moved to Finley in 1919; houses and businesses followed. Sherbrooke's history is documented — boom, bust, and desertion all on record, the lore layered on top. The press recorded it; the detail stands as reported history. 'Sherbrooke’s Decline' documents the entry. The record keeps it — history, not lore.","evidence":"MEDIA_REPORTED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Sherbrooke’s Decline","url":"https://news.prairiepublic.org/show/dakota-datebook-archive/2022-06-09/sherbrookes-decline","publisher":"Prairie Public / Jack Dura","type":"LOCAL_JOURNALISM","authority":3}},{"description":"Sherbrooke was the Steele County seat from 1885 to 1919. A ghost town's file is unusual: the emptiness itself is documented, and this entry is part of that record. The fact is historically verified — the part of the file that doesn't need hedging. 'Steele County Information' documents the entry. The detail belongs to the verified spine of the entry.","evidence":"HISTORICALLY_VERIFIED","date_start":null,"date_end":null,"confidence":null,"source":{"name":"Steele County Information","url":"https://steelecountynd.gov/countyinfo","publisher":"Steele County Government","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}}],"legends":[],"entities":[],"events":[],"investigations":[],"encounters":[],"media":[],"persons":[],"visitor":{"tour_availability":"Verify before visiting","notes":"Access details are unverified; research before visiting.","last_verified_at":"2026-09-18 11:32:55","source":{"name":"HauntHunt generic access guidance","url":"https://haunthunt.com/about#access-guidance","publisher":"HauntHunt editorial","type":"DIRECTORY","authority":2}},"sources":[{"name":"Sherbrooke’s Decline","url":"https://news.prairiepublic.org/show/dakota-datebook-archive/2022-06-09/sherbrookes-decline","publisher":"Prairie Public / Jack Dura","type":"LOCAL_JOURNALISM","authority":3},{"name":"Steele County Information","url":"https://steelecountynd.gov/countyinfo","publisher":"Steele County Government","type":"GOVERNMENT","authority":1}],"conflicts":[],"wiki":null,"counts":{"claims":0,"history":2,"legends":0,"entities":0,"sources":2}}