Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Three Forks

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
B+History
History · Three Forks

Three Forks’ post office opened in 1882, and 26% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns. What drives it

7 places in town are on the National Register, among them the Three Forks of the Missouri, a National Historic Landmark. Below: 6 old photos and papers, maps from 1910 on, and the census since 1910.

1882first post office
7on the National Register
26%homes built before 1940
6old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Three Forks’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Three Forks began

When was Three Forks founded?

1882

The Three Forks post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 674 in 19102020 census: 1,989144 years

How historic is Three Forks?

B+

More historic than 75% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Three Forks’ History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Three Forks is more historic than 75% of U.S. towns. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Three Forks’ overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194025.6% of homes (±11.1) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register7 listings, 14 historic buildings, 73.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MT town 12.7 · U.S. 2.4A−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 75%
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 Three Forks’ 73.0 sits above most of its state (77% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 14 historic buildings outnumber those of 78% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±11.1 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 Three Forks’ past

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

A National Historic Landmark7 places on the National Register, including Three Forks of the Missouri, a National Historic Landmark.
★ What stands out · On the National Register

7 historic places in Three Forks

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier.

places listed
7
National Historic Landmark
1
Three Forks of the Missouri
historic buildings protected
14
each building in a district counts
first listed
1966
Three Forks of the Missouri
Sacajawea HotelRuby TheatreAirway Radio Station, built 1933Adams BlockMethodist Episcopal ChurchThree Valleys State Bank
Buildings★ landmark

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements1
Craftsman1
Early 20th Century Commercial1
Gothic1
Western Commercial1
★ Landmark
Three Forks of the MissouriBuilding
Sacajawea HotelBuilding
Ruby TheatreBuilding
Airway Radio StationLate 19th and Early 20th Century American Movements · Built 1933
Adams BlockEarly 20th Century Commercial
Methodist Episcopal ChurchGothic
Three Valleys State BankWestern Commercial

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

The story

How Three Forks came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Three Forks.

Read it all →

The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern-day geographical controversy—in both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark.

The Lewis and Clark expedition visited the site on July 28, 1805. Meriwether Lewis in his journal entry wrote:

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Three Forks, 1882 to 1960

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1882Post officeThe Three Forks post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archivePanorama Of
  5. 1916In the archiveStone and plaque at Three Forks, Montana, commemorating Sacagawea
  6. 1927Born hereByron H. Dunbar is born here
  7. 1933BuiltAirway Radio Station is built
  8. 1939In the archiveMain street. Three Forks, Montana
  9. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  10. 1960LandmarkThree Forks of the Missouri named a National Historic Landmark
By decade

Three Forks, decade by decade

3 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s–1930s6 items
Panorama Of1909Panorama OfPanorama Of1909Panorama OfPanorama Of Three Forks, Montana1909Panorama Of Three Forks, MontanaStone and plaque at Three Forks, Montana, commemorating Sacagawea1916Stone and plaque at Three Forks, Montana, commemorati…Main street. Three Forks, Montana1939Main street. Three Forks, MontanaSigns at highway intersection. Three Forks, Montana1939Signs at highway intersection. Three Forks, Montana
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
Today17 recent
Upper Madison School in2017Upper Madison School inThree Valleys State Bank 202 Main St. in Three Forks 0062017Three Valleys State Bank 202 Main St. in Three Forks …Airway Radio Station in2017Airway Radio Station inAdams Block in2017Adams Block inUnder the Big Sky - Flickr - Los Paseos2016Under the Big Sky - Flickr - Los PaseosPanorama bleu horses and hills22016Panorama bleu horses and hills2Panorama bleu horses and hills2015Panorama bleu horses and hillsGas Production from Bakken 2000-20132013Gas Production from Bakken 2000-2013Sacajawea Park2012Sacajawea ParkTobacco Roots22011Tobacco Roots2Three Forks2008Three ForksThree Forks MT panoramic2008Three Forks MT panoramicThree Forks MT Luzenac Talc Montana2008Three Forks MT Luzenac Talc MontanaBridger Mountains From2008Bridger Mountains FromBridger Mountains From Three Forks 32008Bridger Mountains From Three Forks 3Bridger Mountains From Three Forks 22008Bridger Mountains From Three Forks 2Three Forks, Montana2005Three Forks, Montana
On the map

Three Forks on the map, 1950 to 1987

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

Three Forks on the 1950 USGS mapThree Forks on the 1987 USGS map1950Three Forks 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 Three Forks.

Every building

Three Forks, building by building, 1910–1914

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.

Three Forks fire insurance map, 1910, sheet 11910Sheet 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.

Panorama Of
Retake this viewPanorama Of, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Three Forks, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001920194019601980200020201,989

Grew from 674 people in 1910 to 1,989 in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Three Forks’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Murphys Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
Milwaukee HospitalhospitalThree Forks Hospitalhospital

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

Help out

Finish Three Forks’s story

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

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

Questions about Three Forks’ history

What year was Three Forks founded?

The Three Forks post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Three Forks rank for history?

Three Forks is more historic than 75% 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.

What is on the National Register in Three Forks?

7 listings: 7 buildings, among them the Three Forks of the Missouri (a National Historic Landmark since 1960). 14 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in Three Forks?

26% of Three Forks’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±11.1 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1985.

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 Wikimedia Commons (20), the Library of Congress (3), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (7), 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.