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History · Argenta

Argenta’s post office opened in 1871

Below: maps from 1952 on.

1871first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Argenta began

When was Argenta founded?

1871

The Argenta post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Montana (1866), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 35155 years
Founding year: the first Argenta post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Argenta’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Argenta are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Argenta’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Argenta, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Argenta yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Argenta is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Beaverhead County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, 13 miles (21 km) northwest of Dillon, the Beaverhead county seat. Argenta is in the valley of Rattlesnake Creek, a southeast-flowing tributary of the Beaverhead River, part of the Jefferson River watershed leading to the Missouri and finally the Mississippi River. Argenta was first listed as a CDP prior to the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, Argenta had a population of 35.

Its first post office opened in 1871.

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Argenta, 1866 to 1952

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1866Post officeThe Montana post office opens
  3. 1871Post officeThe Montana post office closes
  4. 1871Post officeThe Argenta post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1935Post officeThe Argenta post office closes
  7. 1952On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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On the map

Argenta on the map, 1952 to 1997

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Argenta. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Argenta on the 1952 USGS mapArgenta on the 1979 USGS mapArgenta on the 1988 USGS mapArgenta on the 1997 USGS map1952Argenta 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 Argenta.

Famous people

Famous people close to Argenta

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

See all →
Angela McLeanAmerican politician · b. 1970
Lloyd MeedsAmerican politician · b. 1927
T
Troy AndersenAmerican football player · b. 1999
E
Ed BarkerAmerican football player · b. 1931
Timothy M. SwagerAmerican chemist · b. 1961
Eric DanielsAmerican businessman · b. 1951
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Argenta had its own post office from 1871 to 1935. Another post office, Montana, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Montana
1866–1871
Argenta
1871–1935
18601940today
Gone or out of use
Argenta Post Officepost officeArgenta Schoolschool

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

Questions about Argenta’s history

What year was Argenta founded?

The Argenta post office opened in 1871, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.