Great Falls dates to 1883, and 17% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 71% of U.S. towns · #13 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
25 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Charles M. Russell House and Studio, a National Historic Landmark, and seven historic districts with 449 buildings between them. 25 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Charles M. Russell House and Studio, a National Historic Landmark, and seven historic districts with 449 buildings between them. Below: 9 old photos and papers, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1884.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Great Falls’ History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Great Falls is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Great Falls’ 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 Great Falls’ 78.4 sits above most of its state (78% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 473 historic buildings outnumber those of 97% 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 (±1.5 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1883.
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 Great Falls’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Great Falls’s post office has been open since 1884. Another post office, Johnstown, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Great Falls
1884–today
Johnstown
1884–1887
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Boston HeightsCountryside VillageGarrett Mobile Home ParkJohnstownPleasant Park Mobile Home CourtRivershore Mobile Home Park
Gone or out of use
Emerson SchoolschoolFranklin SchoolschoolJohnstown Post Officepost officeLargent SchoolschoolLowell SchoolschoolRussell SchoolschoolSkyline CenterschoolSouth Great FallslocaleWashington SchoolschoolWest Great FallslocaleWest Side JunctionlocaleWillardlocale
1cemetery inside Great Falls
Hillcrest Lawn Memorial Association Columbarium
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
For much of prehistory, no permanent settlements existed at or near Great Falls, though Salish Indians seasonally hunted bison in the region. Around 1600, Piegan Blackfeet Indians, migrating west, entered the area, pushing the Salish back into the Rocky Mountains and claiming the area now occupied by Great Falls. The area remained territory of the Blackfeet until long after the United States claimed the region in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase.
Meriwether Lewis and William Clark led the Lewis and Clark Expedition into the newly purchased territory from 1804 to 1806. The expedition came upon the "Great Falls of the Missouri River" on June 13, 1805.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Great Falls. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1886Great Falls sheet · 1:250,000
U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Great Falls.
Every building
Great Falls, building by building, 1888–1929
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.
In 1883, according to Wikidata. Great Falls’ post office opened in 1884, and the census of 1890 counted 3,979 people here.
How does Great Falls rank for history?
Great Falls is more historic than 71% of U.S. towns, #13 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 Great Falls?
25 listings: 17 buildings, among them the Charles M. Russell House and Studio (a National Historic Landmark since 1965), 7 historic districts with 449 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 473 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Great Falls?
17% of Great Falls’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.5 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1965.
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 (9), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (25), 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.
★ Landmark
1895
1895
c. 1930
