Carbon County, Montana: History and Information

Carbon County, Montana

Carbon County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

County Seat: Red Lodge
Year Organized: 1895
Square Miles: 2,048

Court House:

17 W 11th
County Courthouse
Red Lodge, MT 59068-0887

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Coal deposits in the area

Demographics:

History

Carbon County is located in south central Montana. Carbon County was created on March 4, 1895 from portions of Park and Yellowstone counties and includes an area of 2,066 square miles. The county seat is located in Red Lodge; other towns located within Carbon County include Bearcreek, Belfry, Bridger, Fromberg, Edgar, Silesia, Joliet, Boyd, Roberts, Luther and Roscoe. To the south and west lie the picturesque Beartooth Mountains whose lofty peaks include Montana’s highest, Granite Peak with an elevation of 12,799 feet. Flowing from the mountains, the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River meanders through central portions of the county. On the eastern edge of the county are the Pryor Mountains and the Big Horn River. Coal deposits were originally discovered in the Red Lodge area, those portions were ceded from the Crow Indian Reservation to allow for development. The Rocky Fork Railroad was constructed to access those coal deposits. As the Crow Indian Reservation diminished settlers moved in to acquire 160 acre homesteads. Settlers arrived from such diverse locations as England, Scotland, Ireland, Germany, Scandinavia, Finland, Austria,Yugoslavia, Italy and Russia. Many of those early residents worked in the coal mines in the area, the largest of which were located between Red Lodge and Bearcreek. Oil and gas were also discovered in Carbon County with two abundant fields, the Dry Creek Field and the Elk Basin Fields. As the demand for coal dwindled, agriculture became a mainstay in the region, with cattle and hay primarily in the mountain areas and foothills, while more cropland opportunities lay in the Clark’s Fork Valley.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,062 square miles (5,341 km²), of which, 2,048 square miles (5,304 km²) of it is land and 14 square miles (37 km²) of it (0.69%) is water.

Neighboring Counties:

Park County, Montana - west

Stillwater County, Montana - north

Yellowstone County, Montana - northeast

Big Horn County, Montana - east

Big Horn County, Wyoming - southeast

Park County, Wyoming - south

Cities and Towns:

- Bearcreek

town

Incorporated Area

- Bridger

town

Incorporated Area

- Fromberg

town

Incorporated Area

- Joliet

town

Incorporated Area

- Red Lodge (County Seat)

city

Incorporated Area

County Resources:

Enter County Resources and Information Here

The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic features of our country!"

But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.

Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally, act locally."

Montana State...

Montana

Montana Counties

Montana Counties

Carbon County, Montana

Carbon County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education

Etymology - Origin of County Name

Demographics:

History

Geography

Neighboring Counties:

Cities and Towns:

County Resources:

County Resource Guide