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History · Poplar

Poplar’s post office opened in 1892, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Fort Peck Agency. Below: 5 old photos and papers, maps from 1912 on, and the census since 1920.

1892first post office
1on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
5old photos & papers
6famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Poplar’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Poplar began

When was Poplar founded?

1892

The Poplar post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Poplar Creek Agency (1880), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,152 in 19202020 census: 758134 years
Founding year: the first Poplar post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Poplar’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 1,565 in 1960; 758 people lived here in 2020.On the map since 19123 editions of the USGS map, 1912 to 1989. Watch Poplar change.Mapped building by building3 fire insurance maps, 1914 to 1930, drew every building in Poplar.Old housesHalf of Poplar’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · People over time

Poplar, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,565

Peaked at 1,565 in 1960; 758 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

On the map

Poplar on the map, 1912 to 1989

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

Poplar on the 1912 USGS mapPoplar on the 1972 USGS mapPoplar on the 1989 USGS map1912Poplar sheet · 1:62,500

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

Every building

Poplar, building by building, 1914–1930

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.

Poplar fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 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

Poplar, in brief

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

Poplar is a city in Roosevelt County, Montana, United States. The population was 758 at the 2020 census. It is the tribal headquarters for the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, though Wolf Point is the most populous. The reservation is home to both the Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes, two distinct American Indian Nations. The U.S. Army constructed Camp Poplar here in the 1870s to oversee the reservation. Poplar became reservation headquarters after the military abandoned the camp in 1893. Poplar hosts a Native American Pow Wow called Poplar Indian Days every year, the first weekend in September that is well attended by locals and traveling dancers with prizes for dancers and drummers.

Its first post office opened in 1892. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 810 to 758 (-6%).

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

Timeline

Poplar, 1880 to 1992

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1880Post officeThe Poplar Creek Agency post office opens
  3. 1892Post officeThe Poplar Creek Agency post office closes
  4. 1892Post officeThe Poplar post office opens
  5. 20th century
  6. 1910In the archiveHorse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont
  7. 1912On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1936Born hereNancy Dumont is born here
  9. 1942Born hereFrank Smith is born here
  10. 1950Born hereWilliam S. Yellow Robe, Jr. is born here
  11. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,565
  12. 1992Born hereHunter Azure is born here
By decade

Poplar, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1910s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1910s1 item
Horse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont1910sHorse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont
1920s–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
Date unknown4 to date
Map of a Section of the Missouri River 42 Miles in Length, including Wolf Point and Poplar River Agency, the two consti…Date?Map of a Section of the Missouri River 42 Miles in Le…MapFort Peck Indian Boarding School, Employee's Quarters, Southwest corner of Assiniboine Avenue and Riverside DriveDate?Fort Peck Indian Boarding School, Employee's Quarters…Fort Peck Indian Boarding School, Principal's Cottage, Northeast corner of Assiniboine Avenue and Federal StreetDate?Fort Peck Indian Boarding School, Principal's Cottage…Fort Peck Indian Boarding School, Employee's Quarters, Northwest corner of Assiniboine Avenue and H StreetDate?Fort Peck Indian Boarding School, Employee's Quarters…
Today7 recent
Family Dollar in2025Family Dollar inNew housing development for the Fort Peck tribes in Poplar Montana by the Make It Right Foundation2023New housing development for the Fort Peck tribes in P…Indian boys playing in a poplar tree in2022Indian boys playing in a poplar tree inPoplar Montana Panorama2013Poplar Montana PanoramaOld Fort Peck Agency2011Old Fort Peck Agency2010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map for20102010 Census Urban Cluster Reference Map forBookMTMap-doton-Poplar2005MTMap-doton-Poplar
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.

Horse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont
Retake this viewHorse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont, 1910s

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Poplar

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Fort Peck Agency
Fort Peck Agency
Sites
All 1 listings
Fort Peck AgencySite · listed 1970

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

Famous people

6 famous people were born in Poplar

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

See all →
W
William S. Yellow Robe, Jr.Assiniboine author and playwright · b. 1950
F
Frank SmithMontana politician from the United States · b. 1942
N
Nancy DumontNative American educator and administrator · b. 1936
H
Hunter AzureAmerican mixed martial artist · b. 1992
M
Marge ChadderdonAmerican congresswoman in Idaho · b. 1937
R
Robert V. Dumont, Jr.Native American organizer and education leader · b. 1940
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Poplar’s post office has been open since 1892. Another post office, Poplar Creek Agency, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Poplar Creek Agency
1880–1892
Poplar
1892–today
18801950today
Gone or out of use
Brethren ChurchchurchCamp Poplar RivermilitaryDale HospitalhospitalFarmers Elevator Company ElevatorlocaleFort JacksonlocaleFort PoplarlocaleIndian Health HospitalhospitalIndian Mission - Church of AmericachurchMalcolm Clarks FortlocalePoplar City Hospitalhospital

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

Help out

Start Poplar’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewHorse's Ghost at the fair, Poplar, Mont: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Poplar’s history

What year was Poplar founded?

The Poplar post office opened in 1892, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Poplar?

One place: the Fort Peck Agency (listed 1970).

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 (9), the Library of Congress (3), the National Register of Historic Places (1), 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.