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History · Basin

Basin’s post office opened in 1880, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1954 on and the census since 1900.

1880first post office
0on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
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Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Basin began

When was Basin founded?

1880

The Basin post office opened in 1880, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 600 in 19002020 census: 199146 years
Founding year: the first Basin post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Basin’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 Basin are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Basin’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Basin’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

How Basin came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Basin.

Read it all →

Archeologists think it likely that the first people to live in Montana crossed from Asia to North America over the Bering Land Bridge that existed during the last major Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. Because the middle of the continent was covered with sheets of ice, people who migrated south did so on trails along the edges of glaciers melted by seasonal warming. One such trail, called the Great North Trail, is thought to have followed the Rocky Mountain Front into Montana, passing close to Helena, 24 miles (39 km) north of Basin, and continuing into the east-central part of the state. Evidence of these early Paleo-Indians or Clovis people has been found at three sites, one of them the McHaffie site near Clancy about 20 miles (32 km) north of Basin. The age of the Clancy artifacts is estimated to be 10,000 years. The Clovis people are thought to have disappeared in about 4,000 to 5,00…

ChaptersFirst peoplesCampBoom and bustSince 1960Individual mines

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Basin, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Old Mining Structure By Basin Monatna2011Old Mining Structure By Basin MonatnaMine entrance2007Mine entranceBasinsmelter2007BasinsmelterBasinschool2007BasinschoolBasin Street in2007Basin Street inMTMap-doton-Basin2005MTMap-doton-BasinBasin Montana Church Door, Rotated Incorrectly2004Basin Montana Church Door, Rotated Incorrectly
On the map

Basin on the map, 1954 to 1996

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

Basin on the 1954 USGS mapBasin on the 1985 USGS mapBasin on the 1996 USGS map1954Basin sheet · 1:62,500

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

People over time

Basin, census by census

01002003004005006007001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 650

Between 175 and 650 people in every census since 1900.

13 censuses, 1900–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Basin

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

See all →
Gary CooperAmerican actor · b. 1901
Myrna LoyAmerican actress · b. 1905
Phil JacksonAmerican basketball player, coach and executive · b. 1945
Dirk BenedictAmerican actor (b. 1945) · b. 1945
P
Patricia BelcherAmerican actress · b. 1954
D
David Frederick CunninghamBishop of Syracuse · b. 1900
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Basin’s post office has been open since 1880.

Gone or out of use
BasinlocaleBasin MillsitemineBlue Bell Health MinemineBoulder MinemineDoris MinemineEureka MinemineHector MinemineHope MinemineHope Mine SpurlocaleIndian Head Rock MinemineJasperlocaleMarguerite MinemineMarguerite MinemineMeyers Gulch MinemineNE Basin MinemineNW NE Section 32 MineminePlacer 2313 MinemineSE SW Section 32 Minemine

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

Questions about Basin’s history

What year was Basin founded?

The Basin post office opened in 1880, 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 Wikimedia Commons (7), 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.