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History · Twin Bridges

Twin Bridges’ post office opened in 1869, and 27% of its homes were built before 1940

1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 6 buildings. Below: 7 old photos and papers, maps from 1900 on, and the census since 1910.

1869first post office
1on the National Register
27%homes built before 1940
7old photos & papers
1famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Twin Bridges’ archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Twin Bridges began

When was Twin Bridges founded?

1869

The Twin Bridges post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name.

First census: 491 in 19102020 census: 330157 years
Founding year: the first Twin Bridges post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Twin Bridges’ past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 755 in 1920; 330 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1900 to 1927, drew every building in Twin Bridges.
★ What stands out · People over time

Twin Bridges, census by census

0200400600800192019401960198020002020Peak: 755

Peaked at 755 in 1920; 330 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

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

Every building

Twin Bridges, building by building, 1900–1927

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.

Twin Bridges fire insurance map, 1900, sheet 11900Sheet 1 of 2
Edition
BrickWoodStone

Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.

The story

How Twin Bridges came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Twin Bridges.

Read it all →

Four Indian trails came together at a bend of the Beaverhead River north of the present school building in Twin Bridges. These trails were used by early settlers and freight companies, and helped to establish where the community of Twin Bridges would develop. Judge M.H. Lott came to Montana in 1862, and with his brother John T. Lott settled in the Ruby Valley in 1864. In 1865 they built a bridge across the Beaverhead River, and later built another bridge across the Beaverhead at the Point of Rocks. The Lott brothers continued development of roads and promoted settlement of the town, which was incorporated in 1902, with M.H. Lott as the first mayor.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Twin Bridges, 1869 to 1970

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

  1. 19th century
  2. 1869Post officeThe Twin Bridges post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1909In the archiveOrphan's home
  5. 1920CensusPopulation peaks at 755
  6. 1954In the archiveTexaco Gas Station in
  7. 1960On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  8. 1970Born hereAngela McLean is born here
By decade

Twin Bridges, decade by decade

2 decades in the archive, from the 1900s to the 1950s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1900s2 items
Orphan's home1909Orphan's homeA portion of Main St1909A portion of Main St
1910s–1940snothing 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
1950s1 item
Texaco Gas Station in1954Texaco Gas Station in
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
Date unknown4 to date
Madison County Fairgrounds, GrandstandDate?Madison County Fairgrounds, GrandstandMadison County Fairgrounds, GazeboDate?Madison County Fairgrounds, GazeboMadison County Fairgrounds, Square BuildingDate?Madison County Fairgrounds, Square BuildingMadison County Fairgrounds, Octagonal PavilionDate?Madison County Fairgrounds, Octagonal Pavilion
Today5 recent
LaunchingTheDriftBoat2008LaunchingTheDriftBoatBlueAnchorTwinBridges2008BlueAnchorTwinBridgesTwin Bridges North Entrance2007Twin Bridges North EntranceWelcome-to-Twin-Bridges2006Welcome-to-Twin-BridgesMTMap-doton-TwinBridges2005MTMap-doton-TwinBridges
On the map

Twin Bridges on the map, 1960 to 1989

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

Twin Bridges on the 1960 USGS mapTwin Bridges on the 1989 USGS map1960Twin Bridges 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 Twin Bridges.

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.

Orphan's home
Retake this viewOrphan's home, 1909

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

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 6 historic buildings

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

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
6
each building in a district counts
first listed
1984
Madison County Fairgrounds
Madison County Fairgrounds
Districts

Architectural styles listings

Rustic1
All 1 listings
Madison County FairgroundsDistrict · listed 1984

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

Places that used to be

Places now gone

Twin Bridges’s post office has been open since 1869.

Gone or out of use
Hope Methodist ChurchchurchMontana Childrens CenterschoolPresbyterian Church of Twin Bridgeschurch

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

Help out

Start Twin Bridges’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Twin Bridges’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
2 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Date a photo4 archive items have no date. Guess the decade.+2Retake an old viewOrphan's home: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Twin Bridges’ history

What year was Twin Bridges founded?

The Twin Bridges post office opened in 1869, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Twin Bridges?

One place: the Madison County Fairgrounds (listed 1984).

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 (6), the Library of Congress (6), 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.