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History · Whitetail

Whitetail’s post office opened in 1911

Most of Whitetail was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1954. Below: maps from 1920 on.

1911first post office
0on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
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Quick answers

How Whitetail began

When was Whitetail founded?

1911

The Whitetail post office opened in 1911, the earliest record of the town by name.

2020 census: 9115 years
Founding year: the first Whitetail post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).

What stands out about Whitetail’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 Whitetail are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Whitetail’s homes were built before 1954.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Whitetail’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Whitetail’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

Whitetail, in brief

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

Whitetail is a small, unincorporated village in northern Daniels County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census, Whitetail had a population of 9. The area was first used as a camp along a cattle-driving route in the 1880s. The town grew with the arrival of the Soo Line Railroad in 1914. The line was planned for extension all the way to Glacier National Park, but work was stopped during World War I and the line never went any farther than Whitetail. At its peak the town had more than 500 residents, declining to 248 in 1940 and 125 in 1970. The town's chief industry was the manufacture of silo blowers from 1940, but the plant closed, followed by Whitetail High School in 1940 and the gr…

Its first post office opened in 1911.

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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On the map

Whitetail on the map, 1973 to 1983

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

Whitetail on the 1973 USGS mapWhitetail on the 1983 USGS map1973Whitetail sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Whitetail.

Every building

Whitetail, building by building, 1920

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 sheet.

Whitetail fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 1
Sheets
BrickWoodStone

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

Famous people

Famous people close to Whitetail

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

See all →
Ron MarleneeAmerican politician · b. 1935
A
Alvin StraightAmerican lawn mower traveler · b. 1920
Jay CollinsAmerican politician · b. 1976
D
Dona SpringGreen Party politician · b. 1953
R
Robin SelvigAmerican basketball player-coach · b. 1952
V
Vern FonkAmerican businessman · b. 1931
Places that used to be

Places now gone

Whitetail’s post office has been open since 1911.

Gone or out of use
Hansen-Barzen ElevatorlocaleSaint Thomas Catholic ChurchchurchWhitetail Baptist ChurchchurchWhitetail Schoolschool

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

Questions about Whitetail’s history

What year was Whitetail founded?

The Whitetail post office opened in 1911, 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 U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, 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.