Cecil Township is a civil township

Civil township

A civil township is a widely used unit of local government in the United States, subordinate to, and geographic divisions of, a county. Specific responsibilities and the degree of autonomy vary based on each state. Civil townships are distinct from survey townships, but in states that have both,...

 in Bottineau County

Bottineau County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 83* North Dakota Highway 5* North Dakota Highway 14* North Dakota Highway 43* North Dakota Highway 60* North Dakota Highway 256-National protected areas:*J...

 in the U.S. State

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of North Dakota

North Dakota

North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....

. As of the 2000 census

United States Census, 2000

The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...

, its population was 28.

Geography

Cecil Township is located in survey township

Public Land Survey System

The Public Land Survey System is a method used in the United States to survey and identify land parcels, particularly for titles and deeds of rural, wild or undeveloped land. Its basic units of area are the township and section. It is sometimes referred to as the rectangular survey system,...

 160N, Range 74W.

History

Cecil Township was organized in 1910 from Lincoln School Township.

The Soo Line Railroad

Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad

The Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad was a Class I railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the Midwest U.S. Commonly known as the Soo Line after the phonetic spelling of Sault, it was merged with several other major CP subsidiaries on January 1, 1961 to form the...

 was a major transportation route in the township. Overly, North Dakota

Overly, North Dakota

As of the 2000 census, there were 19 people, 9 households, and 5 families residing in the city. The population density was 53.1 people per square mile . There were 10 housing units at an average density of 28.0 per square mile...

 in the eastern part of the township was railroad hub, including a roundhouse

Roundhouse

A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...

 for servicing locomotvies. Ovelry also served as a way station for rail crews traveling east and west.

In 1908 railroad officials established a second siding 5 miles (8 km) west of the city of Overly, and named the site Tasco ("clay earth"). It was reportedly named after the town of Tasco in Sheridan County

Sheridan County, Kansas

Sheridan County is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2010 census, the county population was 2,556. Its county seat is Hoxie. The county was named in honor of Phillip H...

, Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Grain elevator

Grain elevator

A grain elevator is a tower containing a bucket elevator, which scoops up, elevates, and then uses gravity to deposit grain in a silo or other storage facility...

s were constructed and operated at the site, but the area saw little development. Tasco is located at 48°41′14"N 100°15′18"W.

French

French people

The French are a nation that share a common French culture and speak the French language as a mother tongue. Historically, the French population are descended from peoples of Celtic, Latin and Germanic origin, and are today a mixture of several ethnic groups...

 settlers moved to Cecil Township around 1900 and established a small community about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Overly

Overly, North Dakota

As of the 2000 census, there were 19 people, 9 households, and 5 families residing in the city. The population density was 53.1 people per square mile . There were 10 housing units at an average density of 28.0 per square mile...

 that they named Little Fargo. The settlers originally moved to the area from Wild Rice, then a French settlement near Fargo

Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Dakota and the county seat of Cass County. In 2010, its population was 105,549, and it had an estimated metropolitan population of 208,777...

. Settlers built a church they called the "Mission of St. Genevieve," which was moved to Overly in 1921. Today, all that remains of Little Fargo is its cemetery, located at 48.6441°N 100.1890°W.