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C+History
History · Eureka

Eureka’s post office opened in 1904, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the Eureka Community Hall and the Farmers and Merchants State Bank. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1904first post office
2on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Eureka’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Eureka began

When was Eureka founded?

1904

The Eureka post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 603 in 19102020 census: 1,380122 years

How historic is Eureka?

C+

More historic than 42% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Eureka’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Eureka is more historic than 42% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Eureka’s overall grade.
Founding era1904, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194018.2% of homes (±8.2) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register2 listings, 10.9 per 10,000 residents · typical MT town 12.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 42%
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 Eureka’s 10.9 sits near the middle of its state (55% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% 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 (±8.2 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 Eureka’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 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Eureka’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewInterior view of first floor kitchen. V…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Eureka came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Eureka.

Read it all →

Eureka was founded in the early 1880s as settlers moved north from Missoula and south from Canada; it was originally known as Deweyville. One of the last areas to be developed in Montana in frontier times, logging was a major draw and source of income for decades. Eureka was once billed as the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World," with evergreens shipped to many urban points for holiday sales.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Eureka, 1904 to 1963

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1904Post officeThe Eureka post office opens
  3. 1933In the archiveInterior view of first floor kitchen. View to northeast. - U.S. Customs Service Port of R…
  4. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Eureka, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Interior view of first floor kitchen. View to northeast. - U.S. Customs Service Port of Roosville, U.S. Customs Service…1933Interior view of first floor kitchen. View to northea…
1940s–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
Today11 recent
20240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9863202420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-986320240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9858202420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-985820240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9854202420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-985420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9852202420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-985220240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9851202420240821-USDA-RD-MT-J C-Eureka-9851Kyle Dean at Summertime Festival2015Kyle Dean at Summertime FestivalWhere's yer pet beaver2014Where's yer pet beaverTobacco Valley Community Center in2013Tobacco Valley Community Center inFarmers and Merchants State Bank at2013Farmers and Merchants State Bank atEureka Montana Downtown Looking Northwest2013Eureka Montana Downtown Looking NorthwestMTMap-doton-Eureka2005MTMap-doton-Eureka
On the map

Eureka on the map, 1963 to 1997

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

Eureka on the 1963 USGS mapEureka on the 1983 USGS mapEureka on the 1997 USGS map1963Eureka North 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 Eureka.

Every building

Eureka, building by building, 1910

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 sheet.

Eureka fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 1 of 3
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

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.

Interior view of first floor kitchen. View to northeast. - U.S. Customs Service Port of Roosville, U.S. Customs Service…
Retake this viewInterior view of first floor kitchen. View to northeast. - U.S. Customs Service Port of Roosville, U.S. Customs Service…, 1933

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Eureka

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1985
Eureka Community Hall
Eureka Community HallFarmers and Merchants State Bank
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Rustic1
Western Commercial1
Eureka Community HallRustic
Farmers and Merchants State BankWestern Commercial

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

People over time

Eureka, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001920194019601980200020201,380

Grew from 603 people in 1910 to 1,380 in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Eureka’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Eureka’s post office has been open since 1904.

Hamlets and corners on the map
MidvaleMountain View Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Roosville Schoolschool

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

Questions about Eureka’s history

What year was Eureka founded?

The Eureka post office opened in 1904, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Eureka rank for history?

Eureka is more historic than 42% 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.

What is on the National Register in Eureka?

Two places: the Eureka Community Hall (listed 1985) and the Farmers and Merchants State Bank (1995).

How old are the homes in Eureka?

18% of Eureka’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±8.2 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1974.

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 (12), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.