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History · Alberton

Alberton’s post office opened in 1909, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

9 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 3 old photos and papers, maps from 1999 on, and the census since 1930.

1909first post office
9on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
3old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Alberton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Alberton began

When was Alberton founded?

1909

The Alberton post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 276 in 19302020 census: 452117 years
Founding year: the first Alberton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Alberton’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 3 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register9 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Alberton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Alberton’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo3 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewVIEW TO SOUTH - Alberton Pictograph: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

9 historic places in Alberton

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
9
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
11
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
Alberton School
Alberton School, built 1919Bestwick's Market, built 1910Brinks House, built 1912Chadwick House, built 1922Methodist Church of AlbertonRailroad DepotWilson House, built 1914Thorn House, built 1915
BuildingsStructures

Architectural styles listings

Craftsman3
Collegiate1
Classical Revival1
Western False-Front1
Vernacular Gable-Front1
Bungalow1
Alberton SchoolCollegiate · Built 1919
Bestwick's MarketWestern False-Front · Built 1910
Brinks HouseVernacular Gable-Front · Built 1912
Chadwick HouseBungalow · Built 1922
Methodist Church of AlbertonGable-Front Church
Railroad DepotCraftsman
Wilson HouseCraftsman · Built 1914
Natural Pier BridgeWarren through truss
All 9 listings
Thorn HouseBuilding · listed 1997

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How Alberton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Alberton.

Read it all →

A post office called Alberton has been in operation since 1909. The town was named for Albert J. Earling, president of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.

On April 11, 1996, a Montana Rail Link train carrying chlorine derailed near Alberton.

350 people were injured by chlorine inhalation. 1,000 people were evacuated from Alberton and from Frenchtown. Interstate 90 was shut down for nineteen days. The incident has been described as the largest chemical spill from a train in United States history.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Alberton, 1909 to 1999

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1909Post officeThe Alberton post office opens
  3. 1910BuiltBestwick's Market is built
  4. 1912BuiltBrinks House is built
  5. 1919BuiltAlberton School is built
  6. 1922BuiltChadwick House is built
  7. 1999On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Alberton, decade by decade

Date unknown3 to date
VIEW TO SOUTH - Alberton PictographDate?VIEW TO SOUTH - Alberton PictographAlberton PictographDate?Alberton PictographFish Creek Bridge, Cyr-Iron Mountain RoadDate?Fish Creek Bridge, Cyr-Iron Mountain Road
Today7 recent
Brinks House NRHP 96001601 Mineral County, MT2020Brinks House NRHP 96001601 Mineral County, MTSportsman's Tavern, or Sportsman's Bar, Alberton Montana 20172017Sportsman's Tavern, or Sportsman's Bar, Alberton Mont…No sniveling sign at Sportsman's Bar in Alberton Montana 20172017No sniveling sign at Sportsman's Bar in Alberton Mont…Blue porch umbrella at Sportsman's Bar in Alberton, Montana 20172017Blue porch umbrella at Sportsman's Bar in Alberton, M…Methodist Church of2015Methodist Church ofAntique shop in2012Antique shop inMTMap-doton-Alberton2005MTMap-doton-Alberton
On the map

Alberton on the map in 1999

The U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Alberton.

Alberton on the 1999 USGS map1999Alberton sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Alberton.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

VIEW TO SOUTH - Alberton Pictograph
Retake this viewVIEW TO SOUTH - Alberton Pictograph

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Alberton’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Alberton, census by census

010020030040050019401960198020002020Peak: 452

Between 276 and 452 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Alberton’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Alberton

Nobody well known was born in Alberton itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
David LynchAmerican filmmaker · b. 1946
Brian SchmidtAmerican-born Australian astrophysicist · b. 1967
Jeannette RankinAmerican congresswoman for Montana · b. 1880
Jesse Tyler FergusonAmerican actor · b. 1975
Dana CarveyAmerican comedian · b. 1955
Steve BullockAmerican politician, lawyer, and the 24th Gover… · b. 1966
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Alberton’s post office has been open since 1909.

Gone or out of use
Albertonlocale

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Alberton’s history

What year was Alberton founded?

The Alberton post office opened in 1909, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Alberton?

9 listings: 8 buildings, among them the Alberton School (listed 1997, the first), and 1 structure. 11 historic buildings in all.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), the Library of Congress (2), Wikidata (7), the National Register of Historic Places (9), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.