Tagus

Tagus is a ghost town in Mountrail County, North Dakota, with a history rooted in the railroad era. Built along the Great Northern Railway's transcontinental corridor around 1900, the settlement sat roughly forty miles west of Minot and grew steadily enough to be incorporated in 1908. At its height in 1940, about 140 people called it home. The town's name has an unusual backstory: it began as Wallace, then was rechristened to prevent mix-ups with Wallace, Idaho, taking its final name from the Tagus River — the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula.

Today Tagus is a quiet remnant of that earlier era. Visitors drawn to North Dakota's ghost towns will find the flat, open landscape that once supported a small rail-side community, but should expect few if any intact structures. The appeal is largely historical curiosity and rural scenery. Summer and early fall offer the most comfortable conditions for a visit; winter in this part of North Dakota brings harsh cold and difficult road conditions.