Most of Clancy was built recently: 5% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1992. Below: maps from 1950 on and the census since 2000.
The Clancy post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name. Five smaller post offices, Prickly Pear (1866), Gregory (1881) and Alhambra (1885), opened inside today’s town and later closed.
First census: 1,406 in 20002020 census: 1,851154 years
How historic is Clancy?
C−
More historic than 20% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Clancy post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).
History grade
What drives Clancy’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Clancy is more historic than 20% of U.S. towns. Its age holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.
C−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Clancy’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 Clancy’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.5 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 Clancy’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Clancy’s post office has been open since 1872. Five other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.
Prickly Pear
1866–1872
Clancy
1872–today
Gregory
1881–1888
Alhambra
1885–1947
Clancey
1887–1960
Lump
1895–1898
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
AlhambraLewistonNew Haven
Gone or out of use
AlhambralocaleAlhambra Hot Springs MinemineAlhambra Post Officepost officeArgonaut MinemineBertha MinemineBlack Jack MinemineChampion MinemineClancylocaleForest Park MinemineGregorylocaleGregory MinemineGregory MinemineGregory Post Officepost officeHartfordlocaleHartwelllocaleKainslocaleLongewaylocaleLumplocale
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Start Clancy’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Clancy’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Clancy yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.
Clancy is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Clancy had a population of 1,851. It is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area. The town was founded in 1873 as a gold camp and named for prospector William Clancey. A fire in 1902 destroyed many of the buildings in town.
Its first post office opened in 1872. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 1,661 to 1,851 (+11%).
Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.
Timeline
Clancy, 1866 to 1950
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
The Clancy post office opened in 1872, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Clancy rank for history?
Clancy is more historic than 20% 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.
How old are the homes in Clancy?
5% of Clancy’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.5 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1992.
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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), 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.
