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C+History
History · Ennis

Ennis’ post office opened in 1881, and 20% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns. What drives it

1881first post office
0on the National Register
20%homes built before 1940
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0
Quick answers

How Ennis began

When was Ennis founded?

1881

The Ennis post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 917145 years

How historic is Ennis?

C+

More historic than 37% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Ennis post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Ennis’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Ennis is more historic than 37% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Ennis’ overall grade.
Founding era1881, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194019.5% of homes (±10.9) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MT town 12.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 37%
NewerOlder

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 Ennis’ 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 B−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±10.9 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 Ennis’ 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 Ennis are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Ennis’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Ennis’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

How Ennis came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Ennis.

Read it all →

In 1863, gold was discovered in Alder Gulch. This brought on "the rush". Two months later, William Ennis homesteaded the site along the Madison River that was soon to become the town of Ennis, his namesake.

In 1886, a mystery creature was noted for making livestock kills in the Madison Valley. A local rancher, Israel Ammon Hutchins, finally shot and killed the beast, after accidentally shooting one of his cattle, which was on the other side of some brush. A local taxidermist stuffed the canine. Jack Kirby (Hutchins' grandson) tracked the mount to a museum in Pocatello, Idaho, circa 2007.

Avid Aircraft, a manufacturer of homebuilt aircraft, was located in Ennis. The company ceased operations in 2003.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Ennis, decade by decade

Today6 recent
4th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0620144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 064th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0520144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 054th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0420144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 044th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0320144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 034th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0220144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 024th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 0120144th of July 2014 Parade Ennis, Montana 01
Famous people

Famous people close to Ennis

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

See all →
William Boyce ThompsonAmerican engineer · b. 1869
Angela McLeanAmerican politician · b. 1970
Timothy M. SwagerAmerican chemist · b. 1961
T
Tom L. BurnettAmerican politician · b. 1954
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Ennis’s post office has been open since 1881.

Gone or out of use
Sportsmans Fieldairport

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

Questions about Ennis’ history

What year was Ennis founded?

The Ennis post office opened in 1881, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Ennis rank for history?

Ennis is more historic than 37% 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 Ennis?

20% of Ennis’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±10.9 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1991.

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).

From Wikimedia Commons (6), 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.