Burch

by John N. Spencer, Forman, ND.

The Village of Burch, also known at various times as West Britton and "Bug-Eye", was located in the SE1/2 of the SE1/4 of Sec. 17-127-29 of Miller township in Marshall County.

The Burch family was the first family to come here, they were from Kent County, MI. The family consisted of Mrs.H.D. Burch, her son A. L. Burch, also W.T. and an E. Burch, the latter two homesteading on Sec. 17-127-58, The Village of Burch thus being named for this family, one of whom was also the first Postmaster at this location. Among other first settlers were C. Zuehlke, Ole Larson, Cyrus Secord and Tom Hanson who was the first depot agent, succeeded by John Herrick.

Burch in its hey-day probably contained no more than 30 or 40 people but did consist of several business places some of which were a lumber yard, school house (where church services were held), two elevators, a hotel, livery stable, blacksmith shop and several homes, two stores, one run by the Stokes Brothers and the other by Grant Mountain.

In the early fall of 1886, the Dakota-Great Southern, on its way from Andover to Harlem, reached Britton. One year later the Great Northern reached the future site of Burch and for awhile things boomed.

So things went along happily along until the advent of the "Tin Lizzie" and better roads and the competition of a growing Britton, all of this was just too much and in about 1925 Burch started to vanish, one elevator burned, the lumber yard also, some houses were moved out, some burned and so it went, so that by 1945 there were no further remains to show that there had ever been a Burch.