Established about 1880, the Battle community was named for local landowner Nicholas W. Battle (1820-1905). By the 1890s a town had developed, including a school, post office, business, homes, and churches. A cemetery was established on land acquired from Alexnder and Kenneth McLennan. The earliest documented grave dates to 1888. Following the building of the International and Great Northern Railroad line about 1901, the town began to decline. The Battle Cemetery stands as a memorial to the area's pioneers.