Valley County Communities

Many communities in Valley County formed and grew around three population building events: The Great Northern Railroad opening the country to settlement in 1887, the opening up of over a million acres of land in northeast Montana to homesteading with the Fort Peck Allotment Act in 1913, and the Fort Peck Dam Project in 1933. Below is just a partial listing of post offices and communities that make up Valley County, past and present. In the 1920's there were over two dozen post offices in the County. There were as many as 18 "Boomtowns" associated with the Fort Peck Dam Project; of these, only the four that established post offices are listed below. For maps of Valley County and locations of communities over time, see the Valley County Maps page.

• Ajerton - Near Lustre. Post office 1918-1920.
• Avondale - Settled in 1914 by Atle Tatum. Post office 1915-1935.
• Barford - Post office near the North Dakota border, 1910-1911.
• Barr - Named after Joe W. Barr, a sheep rancher. Post office 1903-1934.
• Baylor - Named after settler Clarence W. Baylor. Post office 1911-1943.
• Beaverton - A station of the Great Northern Railroad in 1887. Post office 1908-1944. Named for Beaver Creek, which flows nearby.
• Bog Coulee - Post office 1913-1916. Effie Poston was postmaster.
• Boyd - Named for James Boyd, the first Postmaster. Post office 1898-1902. Boyd is in present day Roosevelt County.
• Chelt - Near Ophiem. Post office 1916-1918. Maud Bubb was postmaster.
• Dane Valley - A post office from 1898 to 1912 in present day Roosevelt County.
• Delight - A post office in 1920 and 1921.
• Eight Point - Post office 1916-1936. The site is now below Fort Peck Lake.
• Faranuf - Post office from 1929 to 1935, the location is now within the boundaries of the Charlie Russell reserve surrounding Fort Peck Lake.
• Old Fort Peck - established in 1867 on the west bank of the Missouri River about one mile above the present site of Fort Peck Dam. It was abondoned in 1879.
• Fort Peck - Established in 1934 by the Corp of Engineers as the headquarters for the Fort Peck Dam project.
• Frazer - Named after the foreman of a railroad grading crew, Frazer was a railroad station in 1887. The post office was established in 1907.
• Galpin - Post office 1908-1912. Charley Chervenka was the postmaster.
• Genevieve - A community in the northern part of the county, Genevieve had a post office from 1916 to 1942.
• Glasgow - Named after Glasgow, Scotland. Established in 1887. Glasgow is the county seat of Valley County.
• Glentana - Named for a nearby Glen, with tana for Montana. The post office was established in 1913.
• Gold Medal - near Nashua, post office 1916-1917 with Philip Edman as postmaster.
• Grain - appropriately named, grain was a "homesteader" post office 1916-1920.
• Hinsdale - A station on the Great Northern Railroad in 1887, the post office was established in 1891.
• Kenneth - Now Bainville in present day Roosevelt County, Kenneth was a post office from 1902-1904.
• Kintyre - A station on the Great Northern Railroad in 1887.
• Larb - Post office from 1919-1933.
• Larslan - Post Office established in 1918.
• Lenox - A station on the Great Northern railroad in 1887.
• Lismas - Post Office from 1903 to 1920. A ferry crossing on the North shore of the Missouri, the site is now below Fort Peck Lake.
• Lustre - Post Office established in 1917.
• Meharry - in the northwest corner of the county close to the Canadian border, Meharry post office was in operation from 1920 to 1937.
• McCone City - Post office from 1935 to 1941. Founded in 1934 as a labor town for Fort Peck Dam. At it's peak, it had an estimated population of 3,600 people. The town was located on the south side of the Missouri River, in McCone County.
• Middle Fork - A post office from 1913 to 1914, Tena Buchland was postmaster.
• Milk River - A station on the Great Northern railroad in 1887. The name was changed to Wiota and a Post Office in operation from 1918 to 1920.
• Monota - A post office from 1911 to 1913, Monota is in present day Sheridan County, near the North Dakota border.
• Nashua - From an Indian name meaning "Meeting of the waters". Founded by Charles C. Sargent. Established in 1888.
• Newberg - With a post office from 1899 to 1902, Newberg is in present day Phillips County, north of Malta.
• New Deal - Post office from 1935 to 1943. Founded in 1934 as a labor town for the Fort Peck Dam project.
• Opheim - Named after Alfred S. Ophiem, an early settler. Post Office established in 1912.
• Oswego - Established in 1896. Named for Oswego, New York.The post office closed in 1971.
• Richland - The first Post office was established in 1913, the town was Platted in 1925.
• Roanwood - Post office from 1914 to 1926. Theodore Rosholt was the first postmaster..
• Saco - Post office established in 1892. Saco is in present day Phillips County, near the border of Valley County.
• St. Marie - A community established at the former Glasgow Air Force Base.
• Stockholm - A station on the Great Northern railroad in 1888.
• Tampico - A station on the Great Northern railroad in 1887. Post office established in 1908 and closed 1n 1973.
• Tango - Near Ophiem, a post office operated here from 1914 to 1918.
• Thoeney - Named for Jack Thoeney, the first postmaster. Established in 1914, the post office was in operation until 1953.
• Tobison - Post office from 1916 until 1933.
• Vandalia - A station on the Great Northern established in 1887. Post Office Established in 1904.
• Wendell - Post office established at Kerr's Cow Camp in 1914. It was discontinued in 1933.
• Whately - A station on the Great Northern railroad in 1887.
• Wheeler - Founded in 1934 as a labor town for Fort Peck Dam. named after Burton K. Wheeler, senator of Montana. At it's peak, Wheeler boasted 3,500 people. The post office was in operation from 1935 to 1953.

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This page was last updated on 8 May 2009. It was created on 5 April 2009 by Daniel Shurtliff.