Montana City’s post office opened in 1887, and 1 of its places is on the National Register
More historic than 26% of U.S. towns · #34 of 42 in Montana State. What drives it
Most of Montana City was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1995. Its Register listing is the W. C. Child Ranch. Below: maps from 1899 on.
Founding year: the first Montana City post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade
What drives Montana City’s History grade
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Montana City is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #34 of 42 in Montana State. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its share of homes from before 1940 pulls it down.
C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Montana City’s overall grade.
Montana State towns list more on the Register than most of the country (a typical Montana State town has 12.7 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Montana City’s 12.9 sits near the middle of its state (59% of Montana State towns have fewer) while its 4 historic buildings outnumber those of 68% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to B−. The pre-1940 share (±1.0 points) is firm at this size. 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 Montana City’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Montana City is located on top of one of the oldest prehistoric sites in the state of Montana. As early as 9,000 BCE, Native Americans came to Montana City to collect chert, a rock similar to flint, which was used to make spear tips, arrowheads, and knives. White American explorers discovered gold at the site on July 2, 1862, and later that year U.S. Army Captain Jason L. Fisk brought a mule train from Minnesota which stopped at the site and built the first houses that became Montana City. The town became one of the most important mining centers in Montana during the height of the gold rush in the 1860s. The Montana Town Company laid out the city in 1864, naming it after the territory's new name. Chinese miners soon made up a majority of the workforce when the mines began to play out in 1868, and the town saw a brief revival after the arrival of the railroads and the establishment of a …
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices and places now gone
Montana City had its own post office from 1887 to 1890.
Montana City
1887–1890
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Carter SchoolschoolChildslocaleKirkendalllocaleMcClellan Creek QuarrymineMcClellanslocaleMontana City Elementary SchoolschoolMontana City Post Officepost officeNancy Hanks/Faith/Hope MinemineNW NW Section 17 MinemineRhorbaughlocaleSanfordlocale
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.
The Montana City post office opened in 1887, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Montana City rank for history?
Montana City is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns, #34 of 42 in Montana State. 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 Montana City?
One place: the W. C. Child Ranch (listed 1977).
How old are the homes in Montana City?
0.0% of Montana City’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±1.0 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana State town; the median home was built in 1995.
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 the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.
