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History · Chester

Chester’s post office opened in 1895, and 14% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listings are the First State Bank of Chester and the First Episcopal Methodist Church of Chester. Below: maps from 1910 on and the census since 1920.

1895first post office
2on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Chester began

When was Chester founded?

1895

The Chester post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 402 in 19202020 census: 847131 years
Founding year: the first Chester post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Chester’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 Chester are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,158 in 1960; 847 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1910 to 1920, drew every building in Chester.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Chester’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Chester’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

Chester, census by census

02004006008001,0001,200192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,158

Peaked at 1,158 in 1960; 847 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Every building

Chester, building by building, 1910–1920

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.

Chester fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

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

The story

How Chester came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Chester.

Read it all →

The Blackfoot, Piegan Blackfeet, and Blood Tribe migrated to the area via the Old North Trail in the early 18th century. The Lewis and Clark Expedition came through the area as it trekked around Lake Elwell and the Marius River in July 1806. Meriwether Lewis accounted in his journal that "there were not less than 10 thousand buffalo within a circle of 2 miles around that place". The Earl of Southesk concurred during his 1859 expedition to the area when he said that as "[f]ar as the eye could reach, these plains were covered with troops of buffalo; thousands and thousands were constantly in sight."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Chester, 1895 to 1963

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1895Post officeThe Chester post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1931Born hereAllen Kolstad is born here
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,158
  6. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Chester, decade by decade

Today4 recent
Chester MT USA June 13 2025 - USPS Post Office on a foggy day2025Chester MT USA June 13 2025 - USPS Post Office on a f…Town of2011Town ofFirst State Bank of2006First State Bank ofMTMap-doton-Chester2005MTMap-doton-Chester
On the map

Chester on the map, 1963 to 1984

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

Chester on the 1963 USGS mapChester on the 1984 USGS map1963Chester 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 Chester.

On the National Register

2 historic places in Chester

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1997
First State Bank of Chester
First State Bank of ChesterFirst Episcopal Methodist Church of Chester
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Corner Entrance Bank1
Gable-Front Church1
First State Bank of ChesterCorner Entrance Bank
All 2 listings
First Episcopal Methodist Church of ChesterBuilding · listed 1997

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Chester’s post office has been open since 1895.

Gone or out of use
Mary Lynn Hospitalhospital

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

Questions about Chester’s history

What year was Chester founded?

The Chester post office opened in 1895, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Chester?

Two places: the First State Bank of Chester (listed 1997) and the First Episcopal Methodist Church of Chester (1997).

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 National Register of Historic Places (2), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.