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Hotels in Hot Springs Montana circa 1947Photo: Claude W. Stimson · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Hot Springs

Hot Springs’ post office opened in 1913, and 31% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Symes Hotel. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1964 on, and the census since 1930.

1913first post office
1on the National Register
31%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hot Springs’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hot Springs began

When was Hot Springs founded?

1913

The Hot Springs post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 447 in 19302020 census: 557113 years
Founding year: the first Hot Springs post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Hot Springs’ past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

Old housesHalf of Hot Springs’ homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · The story so far

Hot Springs, in brief

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

Hot Springs (Montana Salish: nayyákʷ, Kutenai: Kutmiʔk) is a town on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Sanders County, Montana, United States. The population was 557 at the 2020 census. Founded as the settlements of Pineville and Camas in the 1890s, the town was incorporated in 1929. Previously it was known as both Camas and Camas Hot Springs for the camas plant that grows abundantly in the region as part of the camas prairie habitat.

Its first post office opened in 1913. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 544 to 557 (+2%).

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

Timeline

Hot Springs, 1911 to 1964

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1911In the archiveCamas Hot Springs Montana circa 1911
  3. 1913Post officeThe Hot Springs post office opens
  4. 1947In the archiveHotels in Hot Springs Montana circa 1947
  5. 1964On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

Hot Springs, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1910s to the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s–1940s5 items
Camas Hot Springs Montana circa 19111911Camas Hot Springs Montana circa 1911BIA 1916 via NARA - Plat showing the Townsites of Camas and Pineville Sub-Agency and Hot Springs Reserves - Sanders Cou…1916BIA 1916 via NARA - Plat showing the Townsites of Cam…Hot Springs and Camas post office location 19171917Hot Springs and Camas post office location 1917P15330coll22 20579 medium1917P15330coll22 20579 mediumHotels in Hot Springs Montana circa 19471947Hotels in Hot Springs Montana circa 1947
1950s–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
Today8 recent
GrangeHotSpringsMT2026GrangeHotSpringsMTSYMES HOTEL2013SYMES HOTELWeek 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MT2011Week 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MTWeek 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MT2011Week 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MTWeek 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MT2011Week 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MTWeek 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MT2011Week 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MTWeek 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MT2011Week 4, Camas Root Dig, Camas Prairie, Hotsprings, MTMTMap-doton-HotSprings2005MTMap-doton-HotSprings
On the map

Hot Springs on the map, 1964 to 1980

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

Hot Springs on the 1964 USGS mapHot Springs on the 1980 USGS map1964Hot Springs 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 Hot Springs.

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.

Camas Hot Springs Montana circa 1911
Retake this viewCamas Hot Springs Montana circa 1911, 1911

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hot Springs

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
10
each building in a district counts
first listed
1998
Symes Hotel
Symes Hotel
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals1
Mission Style1
Symes HotelLate 19th and Early 20th Century Revivals

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

People over time

Hot Springs, census by census

020040060080019401960198020002020Peak: 733

Between 411 and 733 people in every census since 1930.

10 censuses, 1930–2020.

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Hot Springs

Nobody well known was born in Hot Springs itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Marc RacicotAmerican politician · b. 1948
Marvin CamelAmerican boxer · b. 1951
P
Pokey AllenGridiron football player and coach · b. 1943
B
Bob LakeMontana Public Service Commissioner · b. 1938
D
Daniel SalomonAmerican politician in Montana · b. 1957
D
Dave McAlpinAmerican politician
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Hot Springs’s post office has been open since 1913.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Central Avenue Trailer Court
1cemetery inside Hot Springs
Maillet

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

Help out

Finish Hot Springs’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewCamas Hot Springs Montana circa 1911: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Hot Springs’ history

What year was Hot Springs founded?

The Hot Springs post office opened in 1913, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hot Springs?

One place: the Symes Hotel (listed 1998).

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 (13), the National Register of Historic Places (1), U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.