Its Register listings are the Lohman Block, the Dave's Texaco and the Young Brothers Chevrolet Garage. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: the first Chinook post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Chinook’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Chinook is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Chinook’s overall grade.
Montana towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Montana town has 12.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Chinook’s 22.2 sits near the middle of its state (65% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 3 listings outnumber those of 65% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±8.5 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Chinook’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 2,326 in 1960; 1,185 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Chinook’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Chinook, building by building, 1892–1910
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.
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
The story so far
Chinook, in brief
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Chinook yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Chinook is a city in and the county seat of Blaine County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,185 at the 2020 census. Points of interest are the Blaine County Museum, Blaine County Wildlife Museum, both located in the town's center, and the Bear Paw Battlefield, located 20 miles (32 km) south of Chinook.
Its first post office opened in 1889. Its population held steady between the last two censuses: 1,203 in 2010, 1,185 in 2020.
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
From the old history books
What they wrote about Chinook in 1917
Passages that mention Chinook, cut from the printed page as they were published.
When the new county of Blaine was organized the city of Chinook had "pull" enough to become the County Seat. A beautiful court house was erected that would be a credit to a city several years older and for a county much richer. The people of Chinook have gone about beautifying their city until today it is one of the best built towns in the northern part of the state and bids fair to grow for years to come. Its people are wideawake and are ones to whom we kindly express pleasure for having
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
There had to be trading points on the railroad, so Chinook was started in 1888, that is, there was a station about three-fourths of a mile up toward Havre from what is now the station, that was known as Dawes.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Chinook, 1889 to 1987
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Old corners and places now gone
Chinook’s post office has been open since 1889.
Hamlets and corners on the map
Burns Trailer CourtSprinkle Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
Church of the NazerenechurchDaweslocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Chinook’s history
What year was Chinook founded?
The Chinook post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Chinook rank for history?
Chinook is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Chinook?
Three places: the Lohman Block (listed 1980), the Dave's Texaco (1994) and the Young Brothers Chevrolet Garage (1994).
How old are the homes in Chinook?
29% of Chinook’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.5 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1957.
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).
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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