Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Florence

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 · Florence

Florence’s post office opened in 1888

Most of Florence was built recently: 2% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1984.

1888first post office
0on the National Register
2%homes built before 1940
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: U.S. Farm Services Agency · Public domain
Quick answers

How Florence began

When was Florence founded?

1888

The Florence post office opened in 1888, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 821138 years
Founding year: the first Florence post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

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

Start Florence’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Florence’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 Florence came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Florence.

Read it all →

Florence was named for Florence Abbott Hammond, wife of A. B. Hammond, a lumber baron. He was instrumental in securing a branch of the Northern Pacific Railway in the Bitterroot Valley. The railway was immensely important in developing the lumber industry and apple production in the 1910s.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Florence, decade by decade

Today5 recent
FlorenceMT CarltonCommunityChurch2017FlorenceMT CarltonCommunityChurchThanksgiving night in2012Thanksgiving night inFlorence, MT, USA - 2003-04-08 - Landsat 7 ETM+2012Florence, MT, USA - 2003-04-08 - Landsat 7 ETM+Florence, MT - 2005 NAIP2012Florence, MT - 2005 NAIPGolden Shower2011Golden Shower
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Florence’s post office has been open since 1888.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Bitterroot Pines
1cemetery inside Florence
Saint Joseph

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

Questions about Florence’s history

What year was Florence founded?

The Florence post office opened in 1888, 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 (5), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, 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.