Cartwright is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in northwestern McKenzie County

McKenzie County, North Dakota

-Major highways:* U.S. Highway 85* North Dakota Highway 22* North Dakota Highway 23* North Dakota Highway 58* North Dakota Highway 68* North Dakota Highway 73* North Dakota Highway 200* North Dakota Highway 1806-National protected areas:...

, 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....

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The community is named for Samuel George Cartwright, a rancher, trapper, and hunter, who was the first settler in the area. It lies along North Dakota Highway 200

North Dakota Highway 200

North Dakota Highway 200 is a major east–west highway in North Dakota. It runs from Minnesota State Highway 200 at the Minnesota border near Halstad, Minnesota to Montana Highway 200 near Fairview, Montana....

 west of the city of Watford City

Watford City, North Dakota

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,435 people, 619 households, and 378 families residing in the city. The population density was 964.8 people per square mile . There were 790 housing units at an average density of 531.2 per square mile...

, the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 of McKenzie County. Its elevation is 1,906 feet (581 m). Although it is unincorporated, it has a post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

, with the ZIP code

ZIP Code

ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...

of 58838.