Glendive dates to 1880, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 74% of U.S. towns · #11 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
11 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 28 buildings. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1888 on, and the census since 1880.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1881.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Glendive’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Glendive is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #11 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 Glendive’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 Glendive’s 81.1 sits above most of its state (79% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 39 historic buildings outnumber those of 83% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±6.9 points). Two sources give 1880.
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 Glendive’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Peaked at 7,058 in 1960; 4,873 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Glendive’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Glendive, building by building, 1888–1910
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 year, then a sheet.
Sir George Gore, a wealthy Irish "sportsman", named the local tributary to the Yellowstone River in his favorite hunting area "Glendive" in 1855. Gore killed 105 bears, 2000 buffalos and 1600 elk and deer over 11 months. The town took its name from the stream of the same name 25 years later.
The Montana territorial legislature had created Dawson County in 1869, but did not name a county seat, instead placing it administratively under Meagher County.
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.
Casitas Del Rio East Mobile Home ParkI-94 Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Bell Street BridgebridgeChristian Science SocietychurchDawson County HospitalhospitalGlendive AirportairportGlendive Community HospitalhospitalGrace HospitalhospitalNolton Post Officepost officeProspect Heights SchoolschoolSamaritan Hospitalhospital
1cemetery inside Glendive
Dawson County
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Help out
Finish Glendive’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
In 1880, according to Wikidata. Glendive’s post office opened in 1881, and the census of 1880 counted 500 people here.
How does Glendive rank for history?
Glendive is more historic than 74% of U.S. towns, #11 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 Glendive?
11 listings: 9 buildings, among them the Charles Krug House (listed 1976, the first), 1 historic district, the Merrill Avenue Historic District, with 28 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 39 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Glendive?
23% of Glendive’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±6.9 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1960.
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 (5), the National Register of Historic Places (11), 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.
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