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History · Harlowton

Harlowton’s post office opened in 1900, and 46% of its homes were built before 1940

2 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 7 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1900first post office
2on the National Register
46%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Harlowton’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Harlowton began

When was Harlowton founded?

1900

The Harlowton post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Merino (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 770 in 19102020 census: 955126 years
Founding year: the first Harlowton post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Harlowton’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.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,856 in 1920; 955 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Harlowton’s homes were built before 1945.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Harlowton’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 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 viewHarlowton Montana Skyline2: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Harlowton, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,856

Peaked at 1,856 in 1920; 955 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

The story

How Harlowton came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Harlowton.

Read it all →

The Upper Musselshell River Valley is named for the Musselshell River, which got its name from the large number of freshwater mussels found in its river bed. In the fall and winter weather, the bison would migrate to the lower altitudes along the Musselshell River. Early plains hunters, taking advantage of the large bison population, frequented this area. Some of the tribes that traveled through the area were the Crow, Blackfeet, Flathead, Gros Ventre, Northern Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Shoshones, Sioux, and Assiniboine.

ChaptersMerinoBig Nose George robberyMilwaukee Road

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Harlowton, 1881 to 1986

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1881Post officeThe Merino post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Merino post office closes
  5. 1900Post officeThe Harlowton post office opens
  6. 1909BuiltGraves Hotel is built
  7. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,856
  8. 1986On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Harlowton, decade by decade

Date unknown1 to date
Harlowton Montana Skyline2Date?Harlowton Montana Skyline2
Today9 recent
Galley’s Brewing drinks2026Galley’s Brewing drinksSaint Joseph Catholic Church in2022Saint Joseph Catholic Church inCentralAveHarlowton2022CentralAveHarlowtonMilwaukee Road Historic District (2014) - Wheatland County, Montana2016Milwaukee Road Historic District (2014) - Wheatland C…The Milwaukee Road Engine E57B on display in2014The Milwaukee Road Engine E57B on display inHarlowton Montana Monument22013Harlowton Montana Monument2MainStreetHarlowtonMT20112011MainStreetHarlowtonMT2011MILWAUKEE ROAD HISTORIC DISTRICT2007MILWAUKEE ROAD HISTORIC DISTRICTMTMap-doton-Harlowton2005MTMap-doton-Harlowton
On the map

Harlowton on the map, 1986 to 1993

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

Harlowton on the 1986 USGS mapHarlowton on the 1993 USGS map1986Harlowton 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 Harlowton.

Every building

Harlowton, building by building, 1910–1921

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.

Harlowton fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 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.

Harlowton Montana Skyline2
Retake this viewHarlowton Montana Skyline2

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 listings protect 8 historic buildings

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
8
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Graves Hotel
Graves Hotel, built 1909
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Gothic Revival1
Standardized Depot and Round House Designs1
Graves HotelGothic Revival · Built 1909
Milwaukee Road Historic DistrictStandardized Depot and Round House Designs

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 and old corners

Harlowton’s post office has been open since 1900. Another post office, Merino, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Merino
1881–1900
Harlowton
1900–today
18801950today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Shepherds Trailer Court

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

Questions about Harlowton’s history

What year was Harlowton founded?

The Harlowton post office opened in 1900, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Harlowton?

Two places: the Graves Hotel (listed 1980) and the Milwaukee Road Historic District (1988).

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 (10), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.