Noonan was founded in 1906 by the Great Northern Railroad in the northeast corner of Divide County and is located at the intersection ND Highways 5 and 40. It was named after a family with farming and mining interests in the area. The Great Northern was eager to get Noonan going before the adjacent town of Kermit on the adjacent Soo Line Railroad became too large. In order to boost Noonan, they offered business owners a lot and would move their buildings to Noonan at no cost.

An early boost to Noonan was the discovery of lignite coal in the eastern third of Divide County and the commercial mining by Elmer Truax, Sr. in 1908 with an underground mine. In 1930, Harris M. Baukol, his brothers and L.L. Monson formed Baukol-Noonan Lignite, Inc. and Noonan Holding Company. The companies began mining near Noonan, North Dakota. In 1949, the businesses were assumed by a successor company, Baukol-Noonan, Inc.

Noonan had a peak population of roughly 625 people in 1960 when coal mining activity at the Baukal-Noonan mine was near its peak. In the early years, businesses in Noonan included three banks, four grocery stores, two pool halls, hotels, a drug store, a tailor shop and a dress shop, a dry goods store, coal mine offices, two implement and hardware dealers, two lumber yards, a grain elevator, a doctor's office, a dentist's office, a barber shop, shoe repair and harness shops, two blacksmith shops, a creamery, a bakery and lunch counter, a feed store, and a couple of dray services. Noonan also was home to four churches.

Contrary to the information in the State Historical Society of North Dakota, Noonan maintained it's high school until 1981 as part of the Divide County School District.

City Officials
Mayor/Commission President - Doug Clemens (701) 925-5608
Auditor - Debbie Svenningson (701) 925-5687

City Commissioners:
Councilman - Dallas Lund 
Councilman - Billy Espeseth 
Councilman - Charles Power 
Councilman - Jeff Henze 


Noonan City Hall
605 S Main St.
PO Box 97
Noonan, ND 58765