Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Scobey

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Scobey

Scobey’s post office opened in 1901, and 35% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Daniels County Courthouse. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1914 on, and the census since 1920.

1901first post office
1on the National Register
35%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Scobey’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Scobey began

When was Scobey founded?

1901

The Scobey post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, East Scobey (1914), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 1,170 in 19202020 census: 999125 years
Founding year: the first Scobey post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Scobey’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,726 in 1960; 999 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Scobey’s homes were built before 1955.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Scobey’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Scobey’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 viewMain Street: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Scobey, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,6001,800192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,726

Peaked at 1,726 in 1960; 999 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Scobey came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Scobey.

Read it all →

The city was named by local rancher Mansfield Daniels, after whom Daniels County is named, for his friend Major Charles Richardson Anderson Scobey, a cattleman from the Glendive area who served as a Montana Territory legislator and an Indian agent at Fort Peck and Poplar.

"During the height of the homestead boom in the 1910s," according to historical marker author Skanks Beaverton, "Scobey was the largest primary shipping point of grain in the world."

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Scobey, 1901 to 1976

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

  1. 20th century
  2. 1901Post officeThe Scobey post office opens
  3. 1913BuiltDaniels County Courthouse is built
  4. 1914In the archiveMain Street
  5. 1914Post officeThe East Scobey post office opens
  6. 1917Post officeThe East Scobey post office closes
  7. 1920Born hereAlvin Straight is born here
  8. 1935Born hereRon Marlenee is born here
  9. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,726
  10. 1973On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  11. 1976Born hereJay Collins is born here
By decade

Scobey, decade by decade

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

1910s1 item
Main Street1914Main Street
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
Today3 recent
Scobey High School2013Scobey High SchoolDaniels County Courthouse2013Daniels County CourthouseMTMap-doton-Scobey2005MTMap-doton-Scobey
On the map

Scobey on the map, 1973 to 1983

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

Scobey on the 1973 USGS mapScobey on the 1983 USGS map1973Scobey 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 Scobey.

Every building

Scobey, building by building, 1914–1920

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.

Scobey fire insurance map, 1914, sheet 11914Sheet 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.

Main Street
Retake this viewMain Street, 1914

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Scobey

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1995
Daniels County Courthouse
Daniels County Courthouse, built 1913
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Western False Front1
Daniels County CourthouseWestern False Front · Built 1913

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

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Scobey

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

See all →
Ron MarleneeAmerican politician · b. 1935
A
Alvin StraightAmerican lawn mower traveler · b. 1920
Jay CollinsAmerican politician · b. 1976
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Scobey’s post office has been open since 1901. Another post office, East Scobey, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Scobey
1901–today
East Scobey
1914–1917
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Brenna Trailer CourtLeibrands Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
Aasness HospitalhospitalAll Saints MissionchurchDahlquist HospitalhospitalDaniels County Farmers ElevatorlocaleHumbert HospitalhospitalIdenity Preserve Grain Company ElevatorlocaleOlson Hospitalhospital

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

Questions about Scobey’s history

What year was Scobey founded?

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

What is on the National Register in Scobey?

One place: the Daniels County Courthouse (listed 1995).

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