Miles City’s post office opened in 1877, and 30% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns · #7 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
15 places in town are on the National Register, among them three historic districts with 157 buildings between them. Below: 15 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
The Miles City post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Garfield (1881), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 629 in 18802020 census: 8,354149 years
How historic is Miles City?
A−
More historic than 82% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
Founding year: the first Miles City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Miles City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Miles City is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #7 of 42 in Montana. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
A−
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Miles City’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 Miles City’s 209 sits above most of its state (86% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 176 historic buildings outnumber those of 92% 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 (±5.3 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 Miles City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Every building
Miles City, building by building, 1884–1916
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.
After the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, the U.S. Army created forts in eastern Montana, including one where the north-flowing Tongue River flowed into the east-flowing Yellowstone River. The first fort was known as the Tongue River Cantonment or the Tongue River Barracks and was founded on August 27, 1876. A second, permanent fort was constructed on higher ground two miles to the west of the mouth of the Tongue and this became Fort Keogh.
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.
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.
The Miles City post office opened in 1877, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Miles City rank for history?
Miles City is more historic than 82% of U.S. towns, #7 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 Miles City?
15 listings: 12 buildings, among them the Miles City Steam Laundry (listed 1979, the first), and 3 historic districts, the Main Street Historic District, the East Main Street Residential Historic District and the Carriage House Historic District, with 157 contributing buildings. 176 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Miles City?
30% of Miles City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.3 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1959.
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 (15), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (15), 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.
1881
1883
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
c. 1930
