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History · Big Arm

Big Arm’s post office opened in 1911, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Big Arm was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1976. Its Register listing is the Big Arm School. Below: maps from 1964 on.

1911first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Big Arm began

When was Big Arm founded?

1911

The Big Arm post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 218115 years
Founding year: the first Big Arm post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

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

Start Big Arm’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Big Arm’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

Big Arm, in brief

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

Big Arm is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Big Arm had a population of 218. The town is situated on the south side of Big Arm, a large bay on Flathead Lake, hence its name. The name was used by the Kootenai people, who lived there prior to the town being established. The post office opened in 1911, with Marion F. Lamb as postmaster. Big Arm State Park is located just north of the town.

Its first post office opened in 1911. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 177 to 218 (+23%).

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

Timeline

Big Arm, 1911 to 1964

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911Post officeThe Big Arm post office opens
  3. 1915BuiltBig Arm School is built
  4. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Big Arm, decade by decade

Today5 recent
View of Flathead Lake near the little town of Big Arm in the western U.S. state of Montana2022View of Flathead Lake near the little town of Big Arm…Flathead Lake from2020Flathead Lake fromBigArmMT BigArmSchool2017BigArmMT BigArmSchoolBig Arm MT Postmark2012Big Arm MT PostmarkMTMap-doton-BigArm2005MTMap-doton-BigArm
On the map

Big Arm on the map, 1964 to 1988

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

Big Arm on the 1964 USGS mapBig Arm on the 1988 USGS map1964Elmo 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 Big Arm.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Big Arm

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
3
each building in a district counts
first listed
2007
Big Arm School
Big Arm School, built 1915
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

One-Room Schoolhouse1
Big Arm SchoolOne-Room Schoolhouse · Built 1915

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Big Arm

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

See all →
Marvin CamelAmerican boxer · b. 1951
B
Bob LakeMontana Public Service Commissioner · b. 1938
D
Daniel SalomonAmerican politician in Montana · b. 1957
D
Dave McAlpinAmerican politician
D
Death of Colten Boushie2016 fatal shooting of an Indigenous man in Sas… · b. 1993
L
Linda RekstenAmerican politician · b. 1951
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Big Arm’s post office has been open since 1911.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Big Arm Mobile Home ParkSnowberg Court
Gone or out of use
Big Arm Schoolschool

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

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

LindisfarneIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Big Arm’s history

What year was Big Arm founded?

The Big Arm post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Big Arm?

One place: the Big Arm School (listed 2007).

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 (4), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.