Laurel’s post office opened in 1886, and 19% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 72% of U.S. towns · #12 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
4 places in town are on the National Register, among them two historic districts with 62 buildings between them. Below: maps from 1912 on and the census since 1890.
Founding year: the first Laurel post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Laurel’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Laurel is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Laurel’s 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 Laurel’s 90.1 sits above most of its state (80% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 65 historic buildings outnumber those of 87% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±5.2 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (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 Laurel’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Before Laurel became a city or a community, people passed through the site during the gold rush period, when gold was discovered at the Clarks Fork headwaters. They came by team and wagon, and by small steamer vessels up the Yellowstone River. The government was in the process of planning a railroad to the west coast, and had surveying crews out to map the country on the most direct route. Many of the prospectors that went west in search of gold, felt gold might be found in other parts of the state, so some returned to the Yellowstone Valley, and others came from the East to settle here. However, this did not take place until after the Custer Massacre in 1876. It was not until 1877 that the white man felt safe in the Yellowstone Valley, after the power of the Sioux was broken. So it was that while the memory of the Massacre of General Custer and his Command on the Little Big Horn River …
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Laurel. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1956Laurel 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 Laurel.
Every building
Laurel, building by building, 1912–1920
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.
The Laurel post office opened in 1886, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Laurel rank for history?
Laurel is more historic than 72% of U.S. towns, #12 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 Laurel?
4 listings: 1 building, among them the Abraham and Carrie Erb House (listed 2005, the first), 2 historic districts, the Laurel Downtown Historic District and the Riverside Park, Laurel, with 62 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 65 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Laurel?
19% of Laurel’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.2 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1975.
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 (6), the National Register of Historic Places (4), 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.
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