Editing Stark County, North Dakota (section)

==History==
The [[Dakota Territory]] legislature created the county on February 10, 1879, taking area from now-extinct Howard and Williams counties and some previously unincorporated territory. It was named for George Stark, a vice president of the [[Northern Pacific Railroad]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3l1AAAAMAAJ&q=%22Stark+County%22+%22george+stark%22|title=County Name Origins of the United States|first=Michael A.|last=Beatty|date=May 17, 2001|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786410255|via=Google Books}}</ref> The county organization was not completed at that time, but the new county was not attached to another county for administrative and judicial purposes. The county lost a portion of its area when [[Hettinger County, North Dakota|Hettinger County]] was created on March 9, 1883. On May 25, 1883, the Stark County organization was affected.

The county boundaries were altered in February and in March 1887. The county was slightly enlarged on January 18, 1908, by a small strip of land (due to a redefinition of county boundary lines), giving Stark County its present boundary lines.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History|title=County History|work=North Dakota.gov|publisher=The State of North Dakota|access-date=February 4, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202151843/http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History|archive-date=February 2, 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/North_Dakota/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies|access-date=February 20, 2019|last=Long|first=John H.|year=2006|work=Dakota Territory Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The [[Newberry Library]]|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111113432/http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/North_Dakota/documents/DAKs_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|archive-date=November 11, 2007}}</ref><ref name=chronology>{{cite web|url= http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/North_Dakota/documents/ND_Consolidated_Chronology.htm|title= North Dakota: Consolidated Chronology of State and County Boundaries|access-date=January 31, 2008|last=Long|first=John H.|year=2006|work=North Dakota Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The Newberry Library|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071127222529/http://historical-county.newberry.org/website/North_Dakota/documents/ND_Consolidated_Chronology.htm|archive-date=November 27, 2007}}</ref>