Missoula dates to 1860, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940
More historic than 70% of U.S. towns · #15 of 42 in Montana. What drives it
68 places in town are on the National Register, among them ten historic districts with 2,169 buildings between them. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1870.
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1862.The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Missoula’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Missoula is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #15 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 Missoula’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 Missoula’s 292 sits above most of its state (88% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 2,236 historic buildings outnumber those of 99% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share (±1.6 points) is firm at this size. Two sources give 1860.
Founding year: Wikipedia (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 Missoula’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Archaeological artifacts date the earliest inhabitants of the Missoula Valley to 12,000 years ago, with settlements as early as 3500 BCE. From the 1700s until the 1850s, those who used the land were primarily the Salish, Kootenai, Pend d'Oreille, Blackfeet, and Shoshone people. Located at the confluence of five mountain valleys, the Missoula Valley was heavily traversed by local and distant native tribes that periodically went to the Eastern Montana plains in search of bison. This led to conflicts. The narrow valley at Missoula's eastern entrance was so strewn with human bones from repeated ambushes that French fur trappers later referred to this area as Porte de l'Enfer, translated as "Gate of Hell". Hell Gate would remain the name of the area until it was renamed "Missoula" in 1866.
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.
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Missoula. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1964Southeast Missoula 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 Missoula.
Every building
Missoula, building by building, 1884–1921
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.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
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.
Retake this viewChicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway car with passengers, probably 1883, c. 1883
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Missoula’s page.
Lost post offices, old corners, places now gone and burying grounds
Missoula’s post office has been open since 1866. Another post office, Hell Gate, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Hell Gate
1862–1871
Missoula
1866–today
18601940today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Hell GateHollywood Trailer CourtMobile City Trailer ParkTravois Village
Gone or out of use
California Street BridgebridgeCentral SchoolschoolFords South AirportairportFort MissoulamilitaryHell Gate Post Officepost officeJohnson SchoolschoolKilolocaleMcLeodlocaleMountain View SchoolschoolRiddlelocaleSmith SpurlocaleState Drive-InlocaleWhittier Schoolschool
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside Missoula
MissoulaSaint MarySaint Mary
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
In 1860, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. Missoula’s post office opened in 1862, and the census of 1870 counted 400 people here.
How does Missoula rank for history?
Missoula is more historic than 70% of U.S. towns, #15 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 Missoula?
68 listings: 56 buildings, among them the Missoula County Courthouse (listed 1976, the first), 11 historic districts with 2,169 contributing buildings, and 1 structure. 2,236 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Missoula?
13% of Missoula’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.6 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1981.
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 (3), the Library of Congress (1), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (68), 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.
1884
