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CHistory
History · Wolf Point

Wolf Point’s post office opened in 1882, and 13% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns · #30 of 42 in Montana. What drives it

Below: 8 old photos and papers, maps from 1916 on, and the census since 1920.

1882first post office
0on the National Register
13%homes built before 1940
8old photos & papers
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Wolf Point’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Wolf Point began

When was Wolf Point founded?

1882

The Wolf Point post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name. Wikidata gives 1915.

First census: 2,098 in 19202020 census: 2,517144 years

How historic is Wolf Point?

C

More historic than 30% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: the first Wolf Point post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Wikidata: 1915.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives Wolf Point’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Wolf Point is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #30 of 42 in Montana. Its share of homes from before 1940 holds the grade up; its National Register listings pull it down.

C
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Wolf Point’s overall grade.
Founding era1882, from the first post office: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194013.1% of homes (±5.8) · typical MT town 13.1% · U.S. 8.4%B−National RegisterNo listings counted · typical MT town 12.7 per 10,000 · U.S. 2.4C−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 30%
NewerOlder
Montana towns of 2,500+ (42)Ahead of 29%

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 Wolf Point’s 0.0 sits below most of its state (16% of Montana towns have fewer) while its 0 listings outnumber those of 23% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from D to C+. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±5.8 points). The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date; Wikidata gives 1915.

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 Wolf Point’s past

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

Boom and bustPeaked at 3,585 in 1960; 2,517 people lived here in 2020.Old housesHalf of Wolf Point’s homes were built before 1964.
★ What stands out · People over time

Wolf Point, census by census

05001,0001,5002,0002,5003,0003,5004,000192019401960198020002020Peak: 3,585

Peaked at 3,585 in 1960; 2,517 people lived here in 2020.

11 censuses, 1920–2020.

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

The story

How Wolf Point came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Wolf Point.

Read it all →

Wolf Point began as a trading post in the 1860s at the confluence of Wolf Creek and the Missouri River. Farming began in the area as early as 1874, with the Civil War pioneer Philip "Sandy" Knorr and John Winn being the first people to plant the first harvest in Northeastern Montana. Philip Knorr, John Winn, James 'Montana Jim' Helmer, Hank Cusker, Henry Kirn, Jacob Wirth, and James MacDonald were the first pioneers in Wolf Point. The Great Northern Railway arrived in 1887. Wolf Point incorporated in 1915 and became the county seat in 1919.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Wolf Point, 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 Wolf Point post office opens
  3. 20th century
  4. 1916On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  5. 1941In the archiveStreet in Wolf Point Montana (1941)
  6. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 3,585
By decade

Wolf Point, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1940s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1940s8 items
Street in Wolf Point Montana (1941)1941Street in Wolf Point Montana (1941)Street1941StreetStreet1941StreetStreet1941StreetUntitled photo, possibly related to: Street1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: StreetUntitled photo, possibly related to: Street1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: StreetFarmers Equity Coop. Grain elevators and oil tanks1941Farmers Equity Coop. Grain elevators and oil tanksUntitled photo, possibly related to: Farmers Equity Coop. Grain elevators and oil tanks1941Untitled photo, possibly related to: Farmers Equity C…
1950s–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
Sherman Park Wolf Point- sign for former Montana governor Ted Schwinden2022Sherman Park Wolf Point- sign for former Montana gove…Wolf Point Montana Rail Crossing2013Wolf Point Montana Rail CrossingWolf Point Montana Park2013Wolf Point Montana ParkMontana Highway 252013Montana Highway 25
On the map

Wolf Point on the map, 1916 to 1972

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

Wolf Point on the 1916 USGS mapWolf Point on the 1972 USGS map1916Wolf Point 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 Wolf Point.

Every building

Wolf Point, building by building, 1920–1930

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.

Wolf Point fire insurance map, 1920, sheet 11920Sheet 1 of 7
Edition
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.

Street in Wolf Point Montana (1941)
Retake this viewStreet in Wolf Point Montana (1941), 1941

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

Retake this view · +15
Places that used to be

Old corners and places now gone

Wolf Point’s post office has been open since 1882.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Moes Trailer Court
Gone or out of use
Burnison Maternity HospitalhospitalCanipa Presbyterian ChurchchurchEquity Co-op Association ElevatorlocaleImmaculate Conception Schoolschool

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

Help out

Finish Wolf Point’s story

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

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewStreet in Wolf Point Montana (1941): stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10

Questions about Wolf Point’s history

What year was Wolf Point founded?

The Wolf Point post office opened in 1882, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records). Wikidata gives 1915.

How does Wolf Point rank for history?

Wolf Point is more historic than 30% of U.S. towns, #30 of 42 in Montana. 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.

How old are the homes in Wolf Point?

13% of Wolf Point’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±5.8 points), against a typical 13% for a Montana town; the median home was built in 1964.

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 (5), the Library of Congress (7), Wikipedia, 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.