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CHistory
History · Plentywood

Plentywood’s post office opened in 1901, and 23% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Below: 12 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1920.

1901first post office
0on the National Register
23%homes built before 1940
12old photos & papers
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Plentywood’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Plentywood began

When was Plentywood founded?

1901

The Plentywood post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 888 in 19202020 census: 1,669125 years

How historic is Plentywood?

C

More historic than 26% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Plentywood post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Plentywood’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Plentywood is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Plentywood’s overall grade.
Founding era1901, from the first post office: founded 1900–1944, an older era than 9% of U.S. townsDHomes built before 194022.8% of homes (±7.5) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MT town 12.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 26%
NewerOlder

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 Plentywood’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% 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 is a Census survey estimate (±7.5 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 Plentywood’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 2,476 in 1980; 1,669 people lived here in 2020.A town in old photos12 old photos, postcards and papers, 1920–1937.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1912 to 1929, drew every building in Plentywood.Old housesHalf of Plentywood’s homes were built before 1961.
★ What stands out · People over time

Plentywood, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,500192019401960198020002020Peak: 2,476

Peaked at 2,476 in 1980; 1,669 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

By decade

Plentywood, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1920s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1920s–1930s12 items
Health center. Plentywood, Mont1920Health center. Plentywood, MontStore1937StoreBarber pole1937Barber poleBarber pole1937Barber poleStore building1937Store buildingDrinking fountain1937Drinking fountainAgricultural junkyard. Plentywood, Montana1937Agricultural junkyard. Plentywood, MontanaOil station. Plentywood, Montana1937Oil station. Plentywood, MontanaPlentywood, Montana. Water trough1937Plentywood, Montana. Water troughDesk in hotel. Plentywood, Montana1937Desk in hotel. Plentywood, MontanaOld building1937Old buildingCard game1937Card game
1940s–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
Every building

Plentywood, building by building, 1912–1929

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.

Plentywood fire insurance map, 1912, sheet 11912Sheet 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.

The story

How Plentywood came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Plentywood.

Read it all →

In 1881, Sitting Bull and his band surrendered to US forces roughly at what is now Plentywood.

Butch Cassidy and other rustlers used a trail through Plentywood to move their stolen cattle into Canada. The plentiful gulches provided coverage for the outlaws. The Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 sparked an increase in Montana homesteaders, including in the Plentywood area. Claiming this land forced some of the outlaws away.

The first business in Plentywood opened in 1900, and a post office was established two years later. The city incorporated in 1912, following the arrival of a Great Northern Railway branch line that eventually ran from Bainville to Opheim.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Plentywood, 1901 to 1980

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Plentywood post office opens
  3. 1920In the archiveHealth center. Plentywood, Mont
  4. 1931Born hereVern Fonk is born here
  5. 1937In the archiveStore
  6. 1953Born hereDona Spring is born here
  7. 1954On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 2,476
On the map

Plentywood on the map, 1954 to 1983

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

Plentywood on the 1954 USGS mapPlentywood on the 1983 USGS map1954Wolf Point sheet · 1:250,000

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

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.

Health center. Plentywood, Mont
Retake this viewHealth center. Plentywood, Mont, 1920

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

Retake this view · +15
Famous people

2 famous people were born in Plentywood

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
D
Dona SpringGreen Party politician · b. 1953
V
Vern FonkAmerican businessman · b. 1931
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Plentywood’s post office has been open since 1901.

Gone or out of use
Sheridan Grain Company Plentywood Stationlocale

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

Help out

Finish Plentywood’s story

Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.

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

Questions about Plentywood’s history

What year was Plentywood founded?

The Plentywood post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Plentywood rank for history?

Plentywood is more historic than 26% of U.S. towns. 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.

How old are the homes in Plentywood?

23% of Plentywood’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±7.5 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1961.

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).

From the Library of Congress (12), 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.