Glasgow dates to 1887, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 47% of U.S. towns · #23 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
Most of Glasgow was built recently: 9% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1964. Below: 10 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1910.
Founding year: Wikidata; Wikipedia’s history section gives the same year. First post office: 1888.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Glasgow’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glasgow is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #23 of 42 in Montana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Glasgow’s overall grade.
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 Glasgow’s 12.5 sits near the middle of its state (57% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 4 listings outnumber those of 68% 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 (±4.2 points). Two sources give 1887.
Founding year: Wikidata (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 Glasgow’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 6,398 in 1960; 3,202 people lived here in 2020.
12 censuses, 1910–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glasgow’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Glasgow, building by building, 1900–1920
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.
1900Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
On the National Register
4 historic places in Glasgow
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
Native Americans inhabited the region for centuries, and extensive buffalo and pronghorn antelope herds provided ample food for the nomadic tribes. The Nakoda, Lakota, and Dakota peoples alternately inhabited and claimed the region from the 16th to the late 19th centuries. In 1804 the Lewis and Clark Expedition came within 15 miles (24 km) of the future site of Glasgow and noted the extensive herds of buffalo and various game. In 1851, the US government formed the first treaty with the Native American tribes, in 1885 the tribes engaged in the last known buffalo hunt in the region.
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.
In 1887, according to Wikidata and Wikipedia’s history of the town. Glasgow’s post office opened in 1888, and the census of 1910 counted 1,158 people here.
How does Glasgow rank for history?
Glasgow is more historic than 47% of U.S. towns, #23 of 42 in Montana. 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 Glasgow?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the US Post Office and Courthouse-Glasgow Main (listed 1986, the first), and 1 structure.
How old are the homes in Glasgow?
9% of Glasgow’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±4.2 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1964.
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 (1), the Library of Congress (9), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, 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.
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