Railroads

19 Locations | Curated by Historic Montana

The surge of industrial activity near the end of the 19th century coupled with the arrival of homesteaders created a demand for transportation more efficient than stage coaches and freight wagons. Railroads met this need with the Utah and Northern Railroad entering the Montana Territory in 1880.The Northern Pacific, Great Northern, the Union Pacific and hundreds of other railroad companies followed.


In sharp contrast with the organic development of mining towns, railroad towns were platted on rigid grid patterns. A brief period of experimentation with town forms ultimately resulted in a preference for a business district perpendicular to the railroad—a T-town—with accessory structures nearby.

Railroad companies spared little expense when establishing their presence and influence on a town’s environment. Examples of the Craftsman, Rustic, Tudor, Mission, and Renaissance Revival styles can be found among the depots, dining lodges, inns, and other structures built by the railroad companies.


As expedient, direct travel became available to the public, travelers no longer relied on dangerous wagon roads. Homesteaders, promoters, miners, businessmen, and others depended on the railroads to convey themselves and their products to and from Montana. Newspaper accounts reveal a surprising level of mobility as railroads connected towns across the state and the state to the rest of the nation. In the process they provided the people of Montana with a shaped environment and structural reminders of the railroads' impact on Montana.

The Gebo Mine, founded in the Clarks Fork Valley in the late 1890s, brought the tracks of the Northern Pacific to this area. The railroad, however, bypassed the coal mine and the town of Gebo that flourished near it because of difficult accessibility. A spur line to the mine was constructed in…
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The Union Pacific Railroad entered Montana Territory via the Utah and Northern narrow gauge branch line in 1880. The newly platted town of Dillon, named for Utah and Northern president Sidney Dillon, stood ready as a stopping point between Utah and the mining town of Butte. By 1907, Dillon’s Oregon…
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When the tracks of the Northern Pacific reached Missoula in 1883, it was possibly the most significant event in the town’s history. Reliable transportation transformed the minor trade and lumber center to a major economic and commercial distribution hub for western Montana. The Northern Pacific…
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The tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway were laid across Montana between 1907 and 1909. Completion of this final transcontinental line and the fierce competition it generated renewed interest in the railroads. Its far-reaching effects revitalized the lumber industry,…
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The first of the Milwaukee Road’s steam locomotives rumbled through this valley in 1908, bringing sure stability to the young settlement of Alberton. The town noisily came to life as a division point along the route, where fresh crews waited and engines were serviced. The Milwaukee Road Depot…
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The town went wild as the first long-awaited locomotive steamed into Helena on June 13, 1883. The momentous arrival of the Northern Pacific linked Montana to national markets and assured Helena a permanency not previously realized. The Sixth Ward grew almost overnight around the extensive rail…
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On New Year’s Day, 1892, the first steam engine pulled into Kalispell on newly laid tracks. Founded as the main line division point for the Great Northern Railway, Kalispell’s tenure as a railroad town lasted only until 1904, when the main line moved to Whitefish. By that time, however, the town…
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The Izaak Walton Inn symbolizes the difficulty of keeping the United States’ northernmost transcontinental railroad open during Rocky Mountain winters. Each winter, sixty Great Northern Railway workers were stationed here to clear the rails of snow between Essex and East Glacier. Originally, their…
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The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway completed its line across Montana in 1909 as settlers began to populate rural areas under the Homestead Act. In 1913, a branch line stretching from Harlowton to Great Falls was nearly finished. Midway between Lewistown and Great Falls, the brand-new…
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Great Falls founder Paris Gibson was drawn to the power of the falls of the Missouri where he vowed to found an industrial center of unsurpassed beauty. Backed by railroad magnate James J. Hill, Gibson hired H. P. Rolfe to plat the townsite in 1883. Industry harnessed the rivers power and the…
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