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History · Darby

Darby’s post office opened in 1889, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 2 old photos and papers from 1939 on.

1889first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
2old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Darby’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Darby began

When was Darby founded?

1889

The Darby post office opened in 1889, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 783137 years
Founding year: the first Darby post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Darby’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 2 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Darby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Darby’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-368120: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Darby, in brief

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

Darby is a town in Ravalli County, Montana, United States. The population was 783 at the 2020 census. Darby is located near the southwestern border of Montana and Idaho, along the Continental Divide. Officially established in 1889, the town was named after James W. Darby who signed the post office application.

Its first post office opened in 1889. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 720 to 783 (+9%).

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

Timeline

Darby, 1889 to 1940

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1889Post officeThe Darby post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1939In the archive193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-368120
  5. 1940In the archiveLogging- Transportation- Railroads - Montana - DPLA - 8e7b092a17e952455ffb1e8f567bcea9
By decade

Darby, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1930s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s–1940s2 items
193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-3681201939193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-368120Logging- Transportation- Railroads - Montana - DPLA - 8e7b092a17e952455ffb1e8f567bcea91940Logging- Transportation- Railroads - Montana - DPLA -…
1950s–1990snothing yet
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.
Add from your album
Today4 recent
DarbyFishing2014DarbyFishingDarbyCommunityCenter2014DarbyCommunityCenterDarby, Montana2013Darby, MontanaMTMap-doton-Darby2005MTMap-doton-Darby
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.

193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-368120
Retake this view193911XX-FS-Montana-KDS-368120, 1939

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Darby’s page.

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

Famous people close to Darby

Nobody well known was born in Darby itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Lance AllredAmerican basketball player · b. 1981
S
Suzanna SonAmerican actress · b. 1995
Lee MetcalfAmerican politician · b. 1911
Robert Lee GilbertsonAmerican mycologist · b. 1925
L
Lorna GriffinAmerican shot putter and discus thrower · b. 1956
F
Fred ThomasAmerican politician; member of the Montana Sena… · b. 1958
Places that used to be

Old corners

Darby’s post office has been open since 1889.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Holtet Court

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

Questions about Darby’s history

What year was Darby founded?

The Darby post office opened in 1889, 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 (6), 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.