Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Fromberg

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 · Fromberg

Fromberg’s post office opened in 1903, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940

16 places in town are on the National Register. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1907 on, and the census since 1920.

1903first post office
16on the National Register
30%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fromberg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fromberg began

When was Fromberg founded?

1903

The Fromberg post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 520 in 19202020 census: 392123 years
Founding year: the first Fromberg post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fromberg’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.Landmarks on the Register16 places on the National Register.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fromberg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fromberg’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 viewFromberg Concrete Arch Bridge: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

16 historic places in Fromberg

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

places listed
16
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
18
each building in a district counts
first listed
1993
Dr. Theodore J. Benson House
Dr. Theodore J. Benson HouseFrank Brooder HouseFromberg Concrete Arch Bridge, built 1914Fromberg Methodist-Episcopal ChurchFromberg Opera HouseIOOF Hall and Fromberg Co-operative Mercantile BuildingJohn Blewett HouseJohn Gibson HouseNorthern Pacific Railroad Depot-FrombergSamuel Greenblatt House, built 1911Suydam, Hester E., Boarding House, built 1907Tracy McCall HouseBaldwin Building, built 1911Francis Rahrer House, built 1921Fromberg High School
BuildingsSitesStructures

Architectural styles listings

Colonial Revival4
Craftsman2
Concrete Arch Bridge1
Gable-front Church1
One-story Gable-roofed1
Flat roof two-story Brick Bearing1
Dr. Theodore J. Benson HouseColonial Revival
Frank Brooder HouseColonial Revival
Fromberg Concrete Arch BridgeConcrete Arch Bridge · Built 1914
Fromberg Methodist-Episcopal ChurchGable-front Church
Fromberg Opera HouseOne-story Gable-roofed
IOOF Hall and Fromberg Co-operative Mercantile BuildingFlat roof two-story Brick Bearing
John Blewett HouseTwo-story cross-gable brick
John Gibson HouseCraftsman
All 16 listings
Northern Pacific Railroad Depot-FrombergBuilding · listed 1993Samuel Greenblatt HouseBuilding · listed 1993Suydam, Hester E., Boarding HouseBuilding · listed 1993Tracy McCall HouseBuilding · listed 1993Gebo CemeterySite · listed 1993Baldwin BuildingBuilding · listed 1993Francis Rahrer HouseBuilding · listed 1993Fromberg High SchoolBuilding · listed 1993

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

The story

How Fromberg came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fromberg.

Read it all →

The community is near the Gebo Mine, developed by Samuel Gebo, a coal mine nearby. Coalville, Montana, also known as Gebo, was the community closer to the coal mine itself.

The Fromberg Post Office was established on March 21, 1903, with Abraham Pierson as the town's first postmaster. The town was named after Northern Pacific stockholder Conrad Fromberg.

The Gebo Barn, 2.5 miles to the south on Gebo Ranch, was completed in 1909 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fromberg, 1899 to 1980

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1899BuiltGebo Cemetery is built
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Born hereArthur A. Ageton is born here
  5. 1903Post officeThe Fromberg post office opens
  6. 1907BuiltSuydam, Hester E., Boarding House is built
  7. 1911BuiltSamuel Greenblatt House is built
  8. 1914BuiltFromberg Concrete Arch Bridge is built
  9. 1914Born hereBob Switzer is born here
  10. 1956On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1980In the archiveFromberg Concrete Arch Bridge
By decade

Fromberg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Fromberg Concrete Arch Bridge1980Fromberg Concrete Arch Bridge
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
Today12 recent
Old Fromberg High School2019Old Fromberg High SchoolMcCall House2019McCall HouseIOOF Hall2019IOOF HallGreenblatt House2019Greenblatt HouseGibson House2019Gibson HouseFromberg Rail Depot2019Fromberg Rail DepotFromberg Opera House2019Fromberg Opera HouseFromberg Methodist-Episcopal Church2019Fromberg Methodist-Episcopal ChurchBrooder House2019Brooder HouseBlewett House2019Blewett HouseBenson House2019Benson HouseMTMap-doton-Fromberg2005MTMap-doton-Fromberg
On the map

Fromberg on the map, 1956 to 1989

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

Fromberg on the 1956 USGS mapFromberg on the 1989 USGS map1956Fromberg 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 Fromberg.

Every building

Fromberg, building by building, 1907–1912

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 year, then a sheet.

Fromberg fire insurance map, 1907, sheet 11907Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
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.

Fromberg Concrete Arch Bridge
Retake this viewFromberg Concrete Arch Bridge, 1980

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Fromberg, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 533

Between 364 and 533 people in every census since 1920.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Fromberg

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
A
Arthur A. AgetonAmerican diplomat, naval officer, and writer · b. 1900
B
Bob SwitzerAmerican inventor · b. 1914
Places that used to be

Old corners

Fromberg’s post office has been open since 1903.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Berts Trailer Court

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

Questions about Fromberg’s history

What year was Fromberg founded?

The Fromberg post office opened in 1903, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fromberg?

16 listings: 14 buildings, among them the Dr. Theodore J. Benson House (listed 1993, the first), 1 site, and 1 structure. 18 historic buildings in all.

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 (13), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (16), 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.