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History · Big Sandy

Big Sandy’s post office opened in 1887, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1920 on and the census since 1920.

1887first post office
0on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: J.B. Chandler · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Big Sandy began

When was Big Sandy founded?

1887

The Big Sandy post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 589 in 19202020 census: 605139 years
Founding year: the first Big Sandy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Big Sandy’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 Sandy are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 954 in 1960; 605 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Big Sandy’s homes were built before 1958.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Big Sandy’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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People over time

Big Sandy, census by census

02004006008001,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 954

Peaked at 954 in 1960; 605 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Big Sandy came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Big Sandy.

Read it all →

At one time the site of a saloon that served Missouri River freighters, the community of Big Sandy is named for nearby Big Sandy Creek. The town began in 1887 with the arrival of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway (later the Great Northern Railway). By early 1900, Cornelius J. McNamara and Thomas A. Marlow, owners of the McNamara Cattle Company, had opened the town's first store. Homesteaders began arriving in Big Sandy in 1909, and an influx continued for a decade.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Big Sandy, 1887 to 1969

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1887Post officeThe Big Sandy post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 954
  5. 1969On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Big Sandy, decade by decade

Today7 recent
Big Sandy Elevators from Centennial Ave2021Big Sandy Elevators from Centennial AveJohannes Avenue2018Johannes AvenueEntering2018EnteringBigSandyMT GrainElevator2017BigSandyMT GrainElevatorBigSandyMT Downtown2017BigSandyMT DowntownBigSandyMT CityHall2017BigSandyMT CityHallBig Sandy, Montana2012Big Sandy, Montana
On the map

Big Sandy on the map, 1969 to 1984

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

Big Sandy on the 1969 USGS mapBig Sandy on the 1984 USGS map1969Big Sandy 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 Sandy.

Every building

Big Sandy, building by building, 1920–1929

Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.

Big Sandy fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 5
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

Famous people

Famous people close to Big Sandy

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

See all →
Jeff AmentAmerican bassist · b. 1963
Brian SchweitzerU.S. politician; Governor of Montana · b. 1955
D
Denise CurryAmerican basketball player · b. 1959
Karan ArmstrongOperatic soprano · b. 1941
P
Philip AabergPianist · b. 1949
B
Bruce L. BensonScientist and author · b. 1949
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Big Sandy’s post office has been open since 1887.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Big Sandy Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
H Earl Clack ElevatorlocaleInternational ElevatorlocaleMcNamara and Marlow ElevatorlocaleMontana ElevatorlocaleRocky Mountain ElevatorlocaleSaint Anthony and Dakota ElevatorlocaleWorstell Hospitalhospital

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

Questions about Big Sandy’s history

What year was Big Sandy founded?

The Big Sandy post office opened in 1887, 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), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.