Columbia Falls’ post office opened in 1891, and 3 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns · #24 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
Most of Columbia Falls was built recently: 6% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1980. 3 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 9 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1910.
From Columbia Falls’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers
How Columbia Falls began
When was Columbia Falls founded?
1891
The Columbia Falls post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Monaco (1891), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 601 in 19102020 census: 5,308135 years
How historic is Columbia Falls?
B−
More historic than 45% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Columbia Falls post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Columbia Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Columbia Falls is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #24 of 42 in Montana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Columbia Falls’ 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 Columbia Falls’ 17.8 sits near the middle of its state (63% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 10 historic buildings outnumber those of 76% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±4.7 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 Columbia Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
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.
The area that would become the city of Columbia Falls was first settled in 1891, in anticipation of the arrival of the Great Northern Railway. On April 26, 1909, the city of Columbia Falls was officially incorporated.
The first residents requested the name "Columbia" for the U.S. Post Office, but the element "Falls" was ultimately tacked onto the name in order to avoid any confusion with the already-named Columbus, Montana.
Outside the town, and downstream of the power-generating Hungry Horse Dam, the Anaconda Aluminum Co Columbia Falls Reduction Plant, an aluminum production plant was constructed in the mid-1950s.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Columbia Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1962Columbia Falls South 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 Columbia Falls.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewNucleus Avenue, Columbia Falls, MT, c.1916, 1916
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Columbia Falls’ page.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
People over time
Columbia Falls, census by census
Grew from 601 people in 1910 to 5,308 in 2020, 8 times over.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Columbia Falls’ Wikipedia page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone
Columbia Falls’s post office has been open since 1891. Another post office, Monaco, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Columbia Falls
1891–today
Monaco
1891–1891
18901960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Big Sky Colonial ManorPine Park
Gone or out of use
Saint Matthews Episcopal Churchchurch
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Questions about Columbia Falls’ history
What year was Columbia Falls founded?
The Columbia Falls post office opened in 1891, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Columbia Falls rank for history?
Columbia Falls is more historic than 45% of U.S. towns, #24 of 42 in Montana. 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 Columbia Falls?
Three places: the St. Richard's Church (listed 1980), the Soldiers' Home Historic District (1994) and the Flathead River Bridge (2010).
How old are the homes in Columbia Falls?
6% of Columbia Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.7 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1980.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (3), 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.
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