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History · Hysham

Hysham’s post office opened in 1907, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Yucca Theatre. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1920 on, and the census since 1920.

1907first post office
1on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
4old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Hysham’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Hysham began

When was Hysham founded?

1907

The Hysham post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 360 in 19202020 census: 276119 years
Founding year: the first Hysham post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Hysham’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 494 in 1960; 276 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Hysham’s homes were built before 1960.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Hysham’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Hysham’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 viewHouses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, …: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Hysham, census by census

0100200300400500192019401960198020002020Peak: 494

Peaked at 494 in 1960; 276 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Hysham came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Hysham.

Read it all →

When the Montana Territory became the state of Montana in 1889 the future site of Hysham was just a blank spot in the rolling prairie along the Yellowstone River. At that time, the area was within sprawling Custer County, which covered much of eastern Montana, and also included the eastern part of the Crow Indian Reservation. The area was opened up to homesteading in 1906 after the federal government moved the Crow Indian Reservation boundary further west to its present location. This made possible the development of farms and ranches throughout the area and at the same time allowed the settlement of small towns like Hysham.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Hysham, 1907 to 1972

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1907Post officeThe Hysham post office opens
  3. 1939In the archiveHouses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana
  4. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 494
  6. 1972Born hereCass Bauer-Bilodeau is born here
By decade

Hysham, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s3 items
Houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana1939Houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, MontanaAbode houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana1939Abode houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, MontanaAbode houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana1939Abode houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana
1940s–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
Buckingham Coulee Bridge, Spanning Buckingham Coulee at State Secondary Highway 311Date?Buckingham Coulee Bridge, Spanning Buckingham Coulee …
Today6 recent
Hysham, Montana2017Hysham, Montana20240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-1005201720240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-100520240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-1003201720240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-100320240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-1002201720240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-100220240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-1001201720240828-USDA-RD-MT-J C-1001Yucca theatre2008Yucca theatre
On the map

Hysham on the map, 1960 to 1983

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

Hysham on the 1960 USGS mapHysham on the 1979 USGS mapHysham on the 1983 USGS map1960Hysham 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 Hysham.

Every building

Hysham, building by building, 1920–1927

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.

Hysham fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 21920Sheet 2 of 3
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.

Houses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana
Retake this viewHouses for sugar beet workers. Hysham, Montana, 1939

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Hysham

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1994
Yucca Theatre
Yucca Theatre
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals1
Mission Style1
Yucca TheatreLate 19th and 20th Century Revivals

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Hysham’s post office has been open since 1907.

Gone or out of use
Zent Hardware Company Elevatorlocale

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

Questions about Hysham’s history

What year was Hysham founded?

The Hysham post office opened in 1907, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Hysham?

One place: the Yucca Theatre (listed 1994).

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 (6), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.