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History · Black Eagle

Black Eagle’s post office opened in 1917, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Tenth Street Bridge. Below: maps from 1949 on.

1917first post office
1on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Black Eagle began, and where its name came from

When was Black Eagle founded?

1917

The Black Eagle post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 949109 years

How did Black Eagle get its name?

Black Eagle was named for the Black Eagle Falls on the Missouri River, which were named by Capt. Meriwether Lewis.

Founding year: the first Black Eagle post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Black Eagle’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 Black Eagle are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Black Eagle’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Black Eagle’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Black Eagle’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 Black Eagle came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Black Eagle.

Read it all →

With early activity from smelters and refineries, Black Eagle was first called "Little Chicago". This was a reference to the industrialized nature of the town. When the post office was established in 1917, the name of the town officially became Black Eagle. It was named for the Black Eagle Falls on the Missouri River, which were named by Capt. Meriwether Lewis.

Construction of the Boston & Montana smelter, which formed the town's skyline, began in 1891. It was demolished on September 18, 1982.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Black Eagle, 1917 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1917Post officeThe Black Eagle post office opens
  3. 1941Born hereRon Whyte is born here
  4. 1949On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1972Post officeThe Black Eagle post office closes
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

Black Eagle on the map, 1949 to 1975

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

Black Eagle on the 1949 USGS mapBlack Eagle on the 1951 USGS mapBlack Eagle on the 1965 USGS mapBlack Eagle on the 1975 USGS map1949Great Falls 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 Black Eagle.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Black Eagle

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1996
Tenth Street Bridge
Tenth Street Bridge
Structures
Tenth Street BridgeStructure

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

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Black Eagle had its own post office from 1917 to 1972.

Black Eagle
1917–1972
19101970today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Little ChicagoSmelter Hill
Gone or out of use
Black EaglelocaleBlack Eagle Post Officepost officeCollins 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.

Great Falls25 historic placesB+

Questions about Black Eagle’s history

What year was Black Eagle founded?

The Black Eagle post office opened in 1917, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Black Eagle?

One place: the Tenth Street Bridge (listed 1996).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.