Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Its Register listing is the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church. Most of Frenchtown was built recently: 1% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1993. Below: maps from 1959 on and the census since 2000.
The Frenchtown post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name.
More historic than 24% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Frenchtown is more historic than 24% of U.S. towns. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
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 Frenchtown’s 5.2 sits near the middle of its state (43% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 1 listings outnumber those of 51% of U.S. towns.
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 →
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Frenchtown’s history is told.
From Wikipedia’s history of Frenchtown.
Early settlers gave the location a generic name based on the ethnicity or language of the original settlers, namely French Canadians.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
2012Smurfit Stone Frenchtown Montana 5
2012Smurfit Stone Frenchtown Montana 4
2012Smurfit Stone Frenchtown Montana 3
2012Smurfit Stone Frenchtown Montana 2
2012Smurfit Stone Frenchtown Montana 1
2012Smoke Jumpers Barbeque Restaurant
2012Frenchtown Montana near F
2012Frenchtown Montana hillside F
2012Frenchtown Montana Sign
2012Frenchtown Montana Center
2012Dump truck Smurfit Stone
2004Smurfit-Stone switching engineEvery edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Frenchtown. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Frenchtown.
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Grew from 883 people in 2000 to 1,958 in 2020.
3 censuses, 2000–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Frenchtown’s Wikipedia page.
Frenchtown’s post office has been open since 1868.
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
The Frenchtown post office opened in 1868, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Frenchtown is more historic than 24% 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.
One place: the Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church (listed 1986).
1% of Frenchtown’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.0 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1993.
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
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 (1), 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) 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.
