Editing West Fargo, North Dakota (section)

==History==
West Fargo began as a whistle stop called "Sheyenne Crossing" on the [[Northern Pacific Railway]], named for the nearby [[Sheyenne River]].<ref name="Hoheisel">{{cite book|last1=Hoheisel |first1=Nielsen |last2=Tim |first2=Andrew R. |title=Cass County |publisher=Arcadia |year=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xfNMWPUkLOoC&dq=%22West%20Fargo%22&pg=PP1 |pages=82}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Teigen |first=Danielle |title=Hidden History of Fargo |publisher=History Press |year=2017 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oy8vDwAAQBAJ&pg=PP1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=How West Fargo Came To Be |publisher=Cass County |date=February 23, 2024 |url=https://www.casscountynd.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2121/16}}</ref>

A post office operated from 1874 to 1885.<ref name="Hoheisel"/>

The settlement was renamed "Haggartville", and then "Haggart", after the owner of the land, [[John E. Haggart]], a businessman who served as postmaster, U.S. marshall, and first sheriff of Cass County.<ref name="Hoheisel"/><ref name="Leith">{{cite web|last=Leith |first=Petra |title=West Fargo: A Brief History |publisher=West Fargo Historical Center |url=https://www.casscountynd.gov/Home/Components/News/News/2121/16 |accessdate=May 28, 2024}}</ref> Settlers began arriving in the area, and in 1876 the first school was built, School District No. 6.<ref name="Leith"/>

Equity Co-op Packing Company was formed by a group of farmer, and the Equity Packing Plant—a meat processing plant—was erected in the settlement in 1919.<ref name="Leith"/> Twenty-four homes were built, as well as a hotel, restaurant, and general store.<ref name="Leith"/><ref name="PPB">{{cite web|title=The Equity Packing Plant |publisher=Prairie Public Broadcasting |date=July 3, 2020 |url=https://news.prairiepublic.org/dakota-datebook/2020-07-03/the-equity-packing-plant}}</ref> The Equity company fell into bankruptcy in 1922, and was sold to Armour and Company in 1925, when the settlement's name was changed to "Village of West Fargo".<ref name="Leith"/> The settlement was a major agricultural processor during the 1930s, and most of the residents were meat packinghouse workers; teams at [[West Fargo High School]] continue to be called the "packers".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Danbom |first1=David B. |last2=Strom |first2=Claire |last3=Grosz |first3=Jennifer |last4=Hallberg |first4=John R. |title=Fargo, North Dakota 1870-1940 |publisher=Arcadia |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYrEr6jyktMC&pg=PP1 |pages=46}}</ref> The plant utilized an assembly line to process meat, and its motto stated it used "every part of the animal except the squeal."<ref name="PPB"/> The plant also produced fertilizer, adhesives, and soap.<ref name="PPB"/> The meat packing era ended in West Fargo when the Armour plant closed in 1960.<ref name="PPB"/>

In 1989, the cities of West Fargo and Riverside merged.<ref name="Leith"/>