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B+History
History · Townsend

Townsend’s post office opened in 1883, and 29% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns. What drives it

Its Register listings are the State Bank of Townsend and the Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1886 on, and the census since 1890.

1883first post office
2on the National Register
29%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Townsend’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Townsend began

When was Townsend founded?

1883

The Townsend post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 245 in 18902020 census: 1,787143 years

How historic is Townsend?

B+

More historic than 65% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

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

What drives Townsend’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Townsend is more historic than 65% 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 Townsend’s overall grade.
Founding era1883, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194028.5% of homes (±13.5) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%A−National Register2 listings, 10.2 per 10,000 residents · typical MT town 12.7 · U.S. 2.4B
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 65%
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 Townsend’s 10.2 sits near the middle of its state (53% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 2 listings outnumber those of 60% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C+ to A−. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±13.5 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 Townsend’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.Mapped building by building7 fire insurance maps, 1886 to 1922, drew every building in Townsend.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Townsend’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Townsend’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 viewUSA 017 NP: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
Every building

Townsend, building by building, 1886–1922

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.

Townsend fire insurance map, 1886, sheet 11886Sheet 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.

The story

How Townsend came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Townsend.

Read it all →

Lewis and Clark passed through on their expedition in 1805, although the first white settlers, homesteaders, and Civil War veterans in search of gold would not arrive until the late 1860s. In 1883, a railway station was established as businesses were founded supporting gold mining in the region. Townsend was named by railroad officials, in honor of Susan Townsend, the wife of Charles Barstow Wright, president of the Northern Pacific (1875–1879).

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Townsend, 1883 to 1954

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1883Post officeThe Townsend post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1949Born herePatrick Duffy is born here
  5. 1950On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  6. 1952In the archiveUSA 017 NP
  7. 1954Born hereKelly Flynn is born here
By decade

Townsend, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1950s1 item
USA 017 NP1952USA 017 NP
1960s–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
20260429-P-OC319-DSC 0919202620260429-P-OC319-DSC 091920260429-P-OC319-DSC 0912202620260429-P-OC319-DSC 091220260429-P-OC319 DSC 0918 2202620260429-P-OC319 DSC 0918 220260429-P-OC319 DSC 0912202620260429-P-OC319 DSC 0912Untitled photo2026Untitled photoTownsend, MT 20242024Townsend, MT 2024Townsend, MT 2024 22024Townsend, MT 2024 2Holy Cross Catholic Church in2022Holy Cross Catholic Church inValley Masonic Lodge No. 21 NRHP 100004236 Broadwater County, MT2020Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21 NRHP 100004236 Broadwater…State Bank of Townsend (2013) - Broadwater County, Montana2013State Bank of Townsend (2013) - Broadwater County, Mo…Townsend silos2011Townsend silosOsprey platform2011Osprey platformMt. Baldy Big Belts2011Mt. Baldy Big BeltsBig Belts and Canyon Ferry2011Big Belts and Canyon FerryTownsendMontana2010TownsendMontanaBroadwater county courthouse2008Broadwater county courthouseMTMap-doton-Townsend2005MTMap-doton-Townsend
On the map

Townsend on the map, 1950 to 2001

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

Townsend on the 1950 USGS mapTownsend on the 1986 USGS mapTownsend on the 2001 USGS map1950Townsend 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 Townsend.

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.

USA 017 NP
Retake this viewUSA 017 NP, 1952

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

2 historic places in Townsend

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

places listed
2
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
2
each building in a district counts
first listed
1992
State Bank of Townsend
State Bank of TownsendValley Masonic Lodge No. 21
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Late 19th Century Revival1
Late 20th Century Revival1
Neo-Classical Revival1
State Bank of TownsendLate 19th Century Revival
All 2 listings
Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21Building · listed 2019

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

People over time

Townsend, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0001900192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,878

Between 245 and 1,878 people in every census since 1890.

14 censuses, 1890–2020.

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

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Townsend

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

See all →
Patrick DuffyAmerican actor · b. 1949
K
Kelly FlynnMember of the Montana House of Representatives · b. 1954
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Townsend’s post office has been open since 1883.

Gone or out of use
Cronk Training SchoolschoolHawkeye ElevatorlocaleTownsend Elevatorlocale

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

Questions about Townsend’s history

What year was Townsend founded?

The Townsend post office opened in 1883, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

How does Townsend rank for history?

Townsend is more historic than 65% 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 Townsend?

Two places: the State Bank of Townsend (listed 1992) and the Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21 (2019).

How old are the homes in Townsend?

29% of Townsend’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±13.5 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1975.

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 (18), the National Register of Historic Places (2), 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.