Welcome to Bowbells ...

The city of Bowbells is located in Burke County<1> and is the County Seat for Burke County.

The location of Bowbells has been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (ie- the GNIS).<2>

Bowbells was established in 1898.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Bowbells has a population of 339 people<3> (see below for details).

The community of Bowbells is 1,960 feet [597 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Bowbells lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

Note: If you leave Bowbells and travel west, you will leave Central Time and cross into the Central Standard Time Zone (CST). In addition, you will be moving from an area that observes daylight saving time to one that does not.

Bowbells lies within the (701) area code.

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Bowbells had an population of 339 people. This is an increase of 0.89% since the 2010 Census (or a decrease of 16.5% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Bowbells had a population of 336 people (which is 17.07% of the total population of Burke County). This makes Bowbells the county's most populous community.

The population of Bowbells represents 0.05% of the total population of North Dakota (which has 672,591 people), making it the state's 154th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 336 people, the population of Bowbells decreased 17.24% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 406 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Bowbells.

Communities near Bowbells ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Bowbells.

• Kenmare
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kenmare have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kenmare
  • Kenmare is located in Ward County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 1,026 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kenmare <5>
• Lignite
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lignite have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lignite
  • Lignite is located in Burke County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 221 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lignite <5>
• North Portal
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Portal came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Portal
• Portal
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portal
  • Portal is located in Burke County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Portal <5>
• Flaxton
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the northwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Flaxton have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Flaxton
  • Flaxton is located in Burke County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 64 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Flaxton <5>
• Tolley
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Tolley have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Tolley
  • Tolley is located in Renville County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 49 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Tolley <5>
• Niobe
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Niobe
  • Niobe is located in Ward County
• Norma
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the east)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Norma
  • Norma is located in Renville County
• Northgate
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the north)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Northgate
• Rival ‑ Historic
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Rival have been provided by the GNIS.<2> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Rival
  • Rival is located in Burke County

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Bowbells. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Bowbells.

We have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Bowbells. See our Newspapers Page for Bowbells.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Bowbells ...

Looking for more information about Bowbells? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Bowbells, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Bowbells.

Adding Bowbells to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Bowbells in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Bowbells was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<7>

From that list, the Bowbells post office opened in 1898.

For more details, see References and Mentions for Bowbells.

Off-the-Road Links ...

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Bowbells. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for State of North Dakota: www.nd.gov/