Editing Fargo, North Dakota (section)

===20th century===
[[File:1957 Fargo tornado.jpg|thumb|left|F5 tornado as it approaches [[Hector International Airport]], 1957]]

Early in the century, the automobile industry flourished, and in 1905, Fargo became home to the [[Pence Automobile Company Warehouse|Pence Automobile Company]], a company that at one time distributed 29% of all [[Buick]]s.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Halgrimson |first=Andrea |date=September 12, 2010 |title=Halgrimson: Pence building in Fargo has had many tenants |url=https://www.inforum.com/lifestyle/arts-entertainment/halgrimson-pence-building-in-fargo-has-had-many-tenants |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=InForum |publisher=[[The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead]] |language=en}}</ref> In addition, Fargo also hosted a regional [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] assembly plant, which by 1917 was assembling some 70 cars per day. The plant would remain in operation until 1956.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Section 2: Manufacturers {{!}} 8th Grade North Dakota Studies |url=https://www.ndstudies.gov/gr8/content/unit-iii-waves-development-1861-1920/lesson-2-making-living/topic-11-age-automobiles/section-2-manufacturers |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=North Dakota Studies |publisher=State Historical Society of North Dakota |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Ford Building {{!}} Fargo History |url=https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/ford-building |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230403210056/https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/ford-building |archive-date=April 3, 2023 |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=library.ndsu.edu |publisher=[[North Dakota State University|NDSU]]}}</ref>

On Labor Day in 1910, [[Theodore Roosevelt]] visited Fargo to lay the cornerstone of the college's new library.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Almanac of North Dakota mysteries & oddities, 2009–2010|last=Jackson|first=William|date=2008|publisher=Valley Star Books|isbn=978-0967734989|pages=14|oclc=259419005}}</ref>  To a crowd of 30,000, Roosevelt spoke about his first visit to Fargo 27 years earlier, and credited his experience homesteading in North Dakota for his eventual rise to the presidency.<ref name=":0" />

[[Fargo-Moorhead]] boomed after [[World War II]], and the city grew rapidly. In 1957, it experienced the [[1957 Fargo tornado]] that destroyed a large part of the north end of the city.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Jackson |first=William |title=North Dakota Tornadoes Twisters & Cyclones |publisher=Valley Star Publications |year=2024 |isbn=979-8-89480-378-4 |location=Dickinson, ND |pages=46 |language=English}}</ref> [[Ted Fujita]], famous for his [[Fujita scale|Fujita tornado scale]], analyzed pictures of the Fargo tornado, helping him develop his ideas for "wall cloud" and "tail cloud." These were the first major scientific descriptive terms associated with tornadoes.<ref>{{Cite web |last=US Department of Commerce |first=NOAA |title=Fargo 1957 F5 Tornado |url=https://www.weather.gov/fgf/fargo57tornado |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=www.weather.gov |language=EN-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Fujita |first=Tetsuya Theodore |date=1959 |title="Detailed Analysis of the Fargo Tornadoes of June 20, 1957," by Fujita, Tetsuya, University of Chicago, Department of Meteorology, Severe Local Storms Project, Technical Report Number 5 to U.S. Weather Bureau, 1959. |url=https://swco-ir.tdl.org/handle/10605/262088 |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=swco-ir.tdl.org |publisher=Texas Tech University Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library |language=en-US}}</ref> The construction of two interstates ([[Interstate 29 in North Dakota|I-29]] and [[Interstate 94 in North Dakota|I-94]]) revolutionized travel in the region and pushed growth of Fargo to the south and west of the city limits. In 1972, the [[West Acres Shopping Center]], the largest shopping mall in North Dakota, was constructed near the intersection of the two Interstates. This mall became a catalyst for retail growth in the area.<ref>{{Cite web |title=West Acres {{!}} Fargo History |url=https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/west-acres |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230601025036/https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/west-acres |archive-date=June 1, 2023 |access-date=August 13, 2023 |website=library.ndsu.edu |publisher=[[North Dakota State University|NDSU]]}}</ref>