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History · Philipsburg

Philipsburg dates to 1867, and 39% of its homes were built before 1940

6 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 154 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1889 on, and the census since 1880.

1867founded
6on the National Register
39%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Philipsburg’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Philipsburg began

When was Philipsburg founded?

1867

Philipsburg dates its founding to 1867 (Wikidata). The census first counted it in 1880.

First census: 299 in 18802020 census: 841159 years
Founding year: Wikidata. First post office: 1868.

What stands out about Philipsburg’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A historic districtThe Philipsburg Historic District takes in 154 historic buildings.A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Mapped building by building6 fire insurance maps, 1889 to 1909, drew every building in Philipsburg.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,724 in 1920; 841 people lived here in 2020.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

6 listings protect 163 historic buildings

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

places listed
6
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
163
each building in a district counts
first listed
1980
Granite County Jail
Granite County Jail, built 1896Philipsburg Historic DistrictM. E. Doe House, built 1902Anderson Lumber Company, built 1880Philipsburg Grade SchoolRingeling House
BuildingsDistricts

Architectural styles listings

Late Victorian2
Vernacular1
Classical Revival1
Bungalow/Craftsman1
Neoclassical1
Victorian1
Granite County JailVernacular · Built 1896
Philipsburg Historic DistrictClassical Revival
M. E. Doe HouseLate Victorian · Built 1902
All 6 listings
Anderson Lumber CompanyBuilding · listed 1986Philipsburg Grade SchoolBuilding · listed 1986Ringeling HouseBuilding · listed 1986

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

Help out

Start Philipsburg’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Philipsburg’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewPhilipsburgh, Montana: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Philipsburg, building by building, 1889–1909

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.

Philipsburg fire insurance map, 1889, sheet 11889Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story so far

Philipsburg, in brief

Wikipedia doesn’t have a history of Philipsburg yet. The photos, dates and memories neighbors add here are how it gets written.

Philipsburg is a town in and the county seat of Granite County, Montana, United States. The population was 841 at the 2020 census. The town was named after the famous mining engineer Philip Deidesheimer, who designed and supervised the construction of the ore smelter around which the town originally formed. He platted the townsite in 1867.

Philipsburg was established in 1867. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 820 to 841 (+3%).

Intro from Wikipedia. Population: U.S. Census Bureau.

Timeline

Philipsburg, 1867 to 1942

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1867
    FoundingPhilipsburg is established
  3. 1868Post officeThe Phillipsburg post office opens
  4. 1880BuiltAnderson Lumber Company is built
  5. 1892Born hereRobert Lewis Brown, Sr. is born here
  6. 1896BuiltGranite County Jail is built
  7. 20th century
  8. 1902BuiltM. E. Doe House is built
  9. 1908On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 1,724
  11. 1942In the archivePhilipsburgh, Montana
By decade

Philipsburg, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s1 item
Philipsburgh, Montana1942Philipsburgh, Montana
1950s–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
Today2 recent
Interior view of governor - Flint Creek Hydroelectric Project, Powerhouse, Approximately 3 miles southeast of Porters C…2007Interior view of governor - Flint Creek Hydroelectric…MTMap-doton-Philipsburg2005MTMap-doton-Philipsburg
On the map

Philipsburg on the map, 1908 to 1996

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

Philipsburg on the 1908 USGS mapPhilipsburg on the 1971 USGS mapPhilipsburg on the 1996 USGS map1908Philipsburg sheet · 1:125,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Philipsburg.

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.

Philipsburgh, Montana
Retake this viewPhilipsburgh, Montana, 1942

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Philipsburg, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,80018801900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,724

Peaked at 1,724 in 1920; 841 people lived here in 2020.

15 censuses, 1880–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Gone or out of use
Allen HospitalhospitalFirst Presbyterian Churchchurch

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

Questions about Philipsburg’s history

What year was Philipsburg founded?

In 1867, according to Wikidata. Philipsburg’s post office opened in 1868, and the census of 1880 counted 299 people here.

What is on the National Register in Philipsburg?

6 listings: 5 buildings, among them the Granite County Jail (listed 1980, the first), and 1 historic district, the Philipsburg Historic District, with 154 contributing buildings. 163 historic buildings in all.

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 (3), Wikidata (2), the National Register of Historic Places (6), 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.