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History · Harlem

Harlem’s post office opened in 1890, and 24% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1905 on, and the census since 1910.

1890first post office
0on the National Register
24%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harlem’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harlem began

When was Harlem founded?

1890

The Harlem post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 383 in 19102020 census: 769136 years
Founding year: the first Harlem post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Harlem’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 4 old photos are in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,267 in 1960; 769 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1910 to 1930, drew every building in Harlem.Old housesHalf of Harlem’s homes were built before 1956.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harlem’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Harlem’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo1 archive item has no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewGrand Theater, Main Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Harlem, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,400192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,267

Peaked at 1,267 in 1960; 769 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Harlem, building by building, 1910–1930

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.

Harlem fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 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.

The story so far

Harlem, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Harlem yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Harlem is a city in Blaine County, Montana, United States. The population was 769 at the 2020 census. The Fort Belknap Indian Reservation is just south of the town, across the Milk River. Like other towns along the Hi-Line, Great Northern Railway officials chose the name of a European city for this new town. In this case it was Haarlem, in the Netherlands. A. A. Cecil platted the townsite in 1889.

Its first post office opened in 1890. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 808 to 769 (-5%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Harlem, 1890 to 1987

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1890Post officeThe Harlem post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1905On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,267
  6. 1987In the archiveGrand Theater, Main Street
By decade

Harlem, decade by decade

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

1980s3 items
Grand Theater, Main Street1987Grand Theater, Main StreetGrand Theater, Main Street1987Grand Theater, Main StreetHarlem Plumbing and Heating1987Harlem Plumbing and Heating
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
Date unknown1 to date
Merrill Bridge, Spanning Milk River at Snake Creek-Merrill RoadDate?Merrill Bridge, Spanning Milk River at Snake Creek-Me…
Today4 recent
Central Avenue in2016Central Avenue inBank on This Meth Sign - Montana2016Bank on This Meth Sign - MontanaCinema in2012Cinema inMTMap-doton-Harlem2005MTMap-doton-Harlem
On the map

Harlem on the map, 1905 to 1964

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

Harlem on the 1905 USGS mapHarlem on the 1964 USGS map1905Harlem sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Harlem.

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.

Grand Theater, Main Street
Retake this viewGrand Theater, Main Street, 1987

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Harlem’s post office has been open since 1890.

Gone or out of use
First Presbyterian ChurchchurchMissouri Synod Lutheran ChurchchurchSaint Stephens Churchchurch

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

Questions about Harlem’s history

What year was Harlem founded?

The Harlem post office opened in 1890, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

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 (7), the Library of Congress (1), 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.