Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Dayton

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Dayton

Dayton’s post office opened in 1893, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Dayton State Bank. Below: maps from 1964 on.

1893first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How Dayton began

When was Dayton founded?

1893

The Dayton post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 104133 years
Founding year: the first Dayton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Dayton’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 Dayton are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Dayton’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Dayton’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
The story so far

Dayton, in brief

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

Dayton (Kalispel-Pend d'Oreille: iʔɫixʷ, Ktunaxa: aki¢qa) is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lake County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Dayton had a population of 104.

Its first post office opened in 1893. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 84 to 104 (+24%).

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

Timeline

Dayton, 1893 to 1964

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1893Post officeThe Dayton post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1912BuiltDayton State Bank is built
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

Dayton on the map, 1964 to 1988

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

Dayton on the 1964 USGS mapDayton on the 1988 USGS map1964Elmo 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 Dayton.

On the National Register

1 historic place in Dayton

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2012
Dayton State Bank
Dayton State Bank, built 1912
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Egyptian Revival1
Dayton State BankLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals · Built 1912

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Dayton

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

See all →
Michelle WilliamsAmerican actress · b. 1980
M
Margaret QualleyAmerican actress and model · b. 1994
B
Brad BirdAmerican film director, animator, screenwriter … · b. 1957
Lily GladstoneAmerican actress · b. 1986
M
Misty UphamAmerican actress · b. 1982
Alexander King SampleRoman Catholic archbishop of Portland in Oregon · b. 1960

Questions about Dayton’s history

What year was Dayton founded?

The Dayton post office opened in 1893, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Dayton?

One place: the Dayton State Bank (listed 2012).

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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.