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History · Swan Lake

Swan Lake’s post office opened in 1915, and 15% of its homes were built before 1940

1915first post office
0on the National Register
15%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Swan Lake began

When was Swan Lake founded?

1915

The Swan Lake post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 102111 years
Founding year: the first Swan Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Swan Lake’s past

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

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Swan Lake are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Swan Lake’s collection

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
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The story so far

Swan Lake, in brief

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

Swan Lake is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Lake County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Swan Lake had a population of 102.

Its first post office opened in 1915. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population fell from 113 to 102 (-10%).

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

By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
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Famous people

Famous people close to Swan Lake

Nobody well known was born in Swan Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Michelle WilliamsAmerican actress · b. 1980
M
Margaret QualleyAmerican actress and model · b. 1994
B
Brad BirdAmerican film director, animator, screenwriter … · b. 1957
Lily GladstoneAmerican actress · b. 1986
M
Misty UphamAmerican actress · b. 1982
Alexander King SampleRoman Catholic archbishop of Portland in Oregon · b. 1960
Places that used to be

Lost post offices and places now gone

Swan Lake had its own post office from 1915 to 1960.

Swan Lake
1915–1960
19101970today
Gone or out of use
Swan Lake Post Officepost office

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

Questions about Swan Lake’s history

What year was Swan Lake founded?

The Swan Lake post office opened in 1915, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
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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 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.