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History · Broadview

Broadview’s post office opened in 1908, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1920.

1908first post office
0on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Eric Friedebach · CC BY 3.0
Quick answers

How Broadview began

When was Broadview founded?

1908

The Broadview post office opened in 1908, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 191 in 19202020 census: 139118 years
Founding year: the first Broadview post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Broadview’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 Broadview are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 260 in 1930; 139 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1912 to 1927, drew every building in Broadview.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Broadview’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Broadview’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
People over time

Broadview, census by census

0100200192019401960198020002020Peak: 260

Peaked at 260 in 1930; 139 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Every building

Broadview, building by building, 1912–1927

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.

Broadview fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

The story so far

Broadview, in brief

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

Broadview is a town in Yellowstone County, Montana, United States. The population was 139 at the 2020 census. The post office was established in 1908 and the town was incorporated in 1917.

Its first post office opened in 1908. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 192 to 139 (-28%).

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

Timeline

Broadview, 1908 to 1979

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1908Post officeThe Broadview post office opens
  3. 1930CensusPopulation peaks at 260
  4. 1979On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Broadview, decade by decade

Today1 recent
Broadview, MT 59015, USA2014Broadview, MT 59015, USA
On the map

Broadview on the map, 1979 to 1980

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

Broadview on the 1979 USGS mapBroadview on the 1980 USGS map1979Roundup sheet · 1:100,000

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

Questions about Broadview’s history

What year was Broadview founded?

The Broadview post office opened in 1908, 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 (1), 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.