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History · Bear Dance

21% of Bear Dance’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1964 on.

0on the National Register
21%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory

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

Start Bear Dance’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Bear Dance’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

Bear Dance, in brief

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

Bear Dance is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Montana, United States. The population was 275 at the United States 2010 census, and was 281 at the 2020 census. It is located on Montana Highway 35 on the east bank of Flathead Lake, 22 miles northeast from Polson, and 11 miles south from Bigfork.

Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 275 to 281 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Bear Dance, 1898 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1898Post officeThe Glen post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1914Post officeThe Glen post office closes
  5. 1964On 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

Bear Dance on the map, 1964 to 1994

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

Bear Dance on the 1964 USGS mapBear Dance on the 1994 USGS map1964Woods Bay 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 Bear Dance.

Famous people

Famous people close to Bear Dance

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

See all →
Michelle WilliamsAmerican actress · b. 1980
M
Margaret QualleyAmerican actress and model · b. 1994
B
Brad BirdAmerican film director, animator, screenwriter … · b. 1957
Lily GladstoneAmerican actress · b. 1986
M
Misty UphamAmerican actress · b. 1982
Alexander King SampleRoman Catholic archbishop of Portland in Oregon · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Another post office, Glen, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Glen Post Officepost officeGlen SchoolschoolYellow Baylocale

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

Questions about Bear Dance’s history

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.