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SweetgrassPhoto: USGS · Public domain
–Not graded
History · Sweet Grass

Sweet Grass’ post office opened in 1902, and 22% of its homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper from 1986 on and old-book passages.

1902first post office
0on the National Register
22%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
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From Sweet Grass’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Sweet Grass began

When was Sweet Grass founded?

1902

The Sweet Grass post office opened in 1902, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 65124 years
Founding year: the first Sweet Grass post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Sweet Grass’ 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.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Sweet Grass’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Sweet Grass’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 viewSweetgrass: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story so far

Sweet Grass, in brief

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

Sweet Grass is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Toole County, Montana, United States, on the Canada–United States border. It is the northern terminus of Interstate 15, an important route connecting western Canada, the western United States, and Mexico. The population was 65 according to the 2020 census. In 2004, a joint border facility opened at the Sweetgrass port of entry and Coutts, Alberta, housing both Canadian and American federal authorities. Fire service is provided through the volunteer fire department in Coutts. It is 34 miles (55 km) to Shelby, 108 miles (174 km) to Havre and 174 miles (280 km) to Missoula.

Its first post office opened in 1902. Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses its population grew from 58 to 65 (+12%).

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

From the old history books

What they wrote about Sweet Grass in 1907

Passages that mention Sweet Grass, cut from the printed page as they were published.

ley and supplies were brought in to these sellers over the stage line between Miles City and Bozeman. Along this line in the present county of Sweet Grass were established a number of stage stations and postofifices that became very well known points. One of the stations was the Gage place on Duck …
An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley1907 · page 194Read the page →
Read the text

ley and supplies were brought in to these sellers over the stage line between Miles City and Bozeman. Along this line in the present county of Sweet Grass were established a number of stage stations and postofifices that became very well known points. One of the stations was the Gage place on Duck creek; another was the Big Timber postofifice, store

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
It was in 1881 that the first school in Sweet Grass county was organized ; it was located on the lower Sweet Grass. A school house was built in the fall of the year, and Miss Lizzie Evans was the first teacher. \V.
An illustrated history of the Yellowstone Valley1907 · page 195Read the page →
Read the text

It was in 1881 that the first school in Sweet Grass county was organized ; it was located on the lower Sweet Grass. A school house was built in the fall of the year, and Miss Lizzie Evans was the first teacher. \V.

Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.

Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

By decade

Sweet Grass, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1980s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1980s1 item
Sweetgrass1986Sweetgrass
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
Today4 recent
Aerial - near Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01 - white balanced2013Aerial - near Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01 - …Aerial - near Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 012013Aerial - near Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01Aerial - Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01 - white balanced2013Aerial - Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01 - white…Aerial - Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 012013Aerial - Coutts, Alberta & Sweet Grass, MT 01
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.

Sweetgrass
Retake this viewSweetgrass, 1986

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

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Questions about Sweet Grass’ history

What year was Sweet Grass founded?

The Sweet Grass post office opened in 1902, 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 Wikimedia Commons (5), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.