Montana Archives, Societies & Publications

It is a good idea to familiarize personally with just about any repository in Montana that you simply might travel to by communicating with to the best suited archive or library in advance.

Most, if not all, Montana repositories have written and published content that present its collections as well as research policy.

Montana archives and historical organizations usually have On-line sites that provide equivalent details. Several also contain down loadable data for some or parts of their collections.

List of Montana Archives

• National Archives-Rocky Mountain Region, Denver Federal Center, Building 48, West 6th Avenue and Kipling Street, Denver, Colorado 80225-0307. States covered are Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, WyomingMailing Address: P.O. Box 25307, Denver, Colorado 80225-0307; Tel: 303-236-0817, E-mail: denver.archives@nara.gov, Fax: 303-236-9297
• Montana State Digital Archives
• Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, 17 West Quartz St., Butte, MT 59703; 406.782.3280

List of Montana Libraries & Museums

• Montana State Library, P.O. Box 201800, 1515 East 6th Avenue, Helena MT 59620-1800; 406-444-3115; Hours:8 a.m.-5 p.m., Mon.-Fri.
• My Montana Library – Montana State Library website provides a shared online catalog and library directory forlibraries throughout the state.
• Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Bldg. 322, Fort Missoula, MT 59801.

List of Montana Historical & Genealogical Societies

For almost every state there is a state genealogical society, a state genealogical council, or both.

In addition to their own work, Montana groups many times help coordinate the efforts of local societies throughout the Montana.

Their unique publications, newsletters and quarterlies, supplement those created through the area societies.

Regional and State Societies

• Montana Historical Society, 225 N. Roberts, P.O. Box 201201; Helena, MT 59601-1201; The Montana Historical Society has served as the official archives for the records of the state of Montana since 1969. In that capacity, it has obtained state and territorial records from 1864 to the present. Box and folder-level inventories are available for processed manuscripts and state records through a keyword searchable database.
• Montana State Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 555, Chester, MT 59522; The society’s website also has valuable links to local societies statewide.
• Central Montana Genealogy Society, 701 W. Main Lewistown, Montana 59457-2501; (406) 538-5212

County, Township and City Societies

• Beaver Head Hunters Genealogical Society, 15 S. Montana, Dillon, Montana 59725
• Beaverhead County Historical Society and Museum, 15 S Montana St, Dillon, Mt 59725; Phone:(406) 683-5027
• Big Horn County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 51, Hardin MT 59034
• Big Horn County Historical Society / Museum, 1163 3rd Street East, Hardin, MT 59034 ; (406) 665-1671
• Bitterroot Genealogical Society, 702 S. Fifth Street, Hamilton MT 59840
• Blaine County Historical Society / Museum, 501 Indiana Street, Chinook, MT 59523; (406) 357-2590
• Broken Mountain Genealogical Society, PO Box 261, Chester, MT 59522; 406.759.5445
• Butte Historical Society, PO Box 3913, Butte MT 59701
• Cascade County Historical Society / Museum, 422 2nd Street South, Great Falls MT 59401; (406) 452-3462
• Culberton Heritage Center, Us Highway 2 E, Culbertson MT 59218
• Deer Lodge County Historical Society, 800 Main Street, Anaconda MT 59711; (406) 563-4010
• Flathead Valley Genealogical Society, 30 Spring Creek Ct., Kalispell, MT 59901
• Ft. Assiniboine Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 321, Havre MT 59531
• Ft. Missoula Historical Society / Museum, 322 Fort Missoula , Missoula, MT 59804, 59804; Phone:(406) 728-3476
• Gallatin Historical Society and Pioneer Museum, 317 West Main Street, Bozeman, MT 59715; Phone: 406-522-8122
• Gallatin Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1783, Bozeman, MT 59771-1783
• Glasgow Root Diggers, 102 Bonnie St., Glasgow MT 59230
• Great Falls Genealogical Society, 301 2nd Avenue North, Great Falls MT; 59401; (406) 727-3922
• Jefferson County Genealogical Society, 210 N. Main St., Boulder, MT 59632; Phone:406-422-9879
• Jefferson Valley Historical Society, P.O. Box 902, Whitehall MT 59759-0902
• Lewis & Clark County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 5313, Helena MT 59604; Phone 406-447-1690 x 128
• Libby Heritage Center, 1367 Us Highway 2 S, Libby MT 59923-9011
• Livingston Heritage Center, 200 W Park St, Livingston MT 59047-2629
• Marcus Daly Historical Society, 401 E Commercial Ave, Anaconda, Mt 59711; Phone:(406) 563-2220
• Miles City Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 711, Miles City MT 59301
• Milk River Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1000, Chinook MT 59523
• Mon Dak Heritage Center, 120 3rd Ave Se, Sidney MT 59270-4324
• Park County Historical Society, 118 W. Chinook St, Livignston, MT 59047; 406-222-4184
• Phillips County Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 334, Malta MT 59538
• Phillips County Historical Society, PO Box 518, 431 US HWY 2 E., Malta MT 59538; Phone: 406-654-1037
• Polson Flathead Historical Society, 708 Main Street, PO Box 206 Polson Montana 59860; (406) 883-3049
• Powder River Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 394, Broadus MT 59317
• Powder River Historical Society, PO Box 573, 102 West Wilson, Broadus, MT 59317; Phone: 406-436-2977
• Powell County Genealogical Society, 501 Missouri Avenue, Deer Lodge, MT 59722; Ph: 406-846-1253
• Ravalli County Historical Society / Museum, 205 Bedford St, Hamilton, Mt 59840; Phone:(406) 363-3338
• Rudyard Historical Society, P.O. Box 44, Rudyard MT 59540
• Sheridan Daybreakers Genealogical Society, 318 N Adams St., Plentywood, MT 59254; Questions? Call (406) 765-2989
• Stumptown Historical Society, 500 Depo St. # 101, Whitefish MT 59937
• Tangled Roots Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 1992, Cut Bank MT 59427
• Upper Blackfoot Historical Society, P.O. Box 922, 3955 Lincoln Gulch Road , Lincoln MT 59639; (406) 362-4099
• Upper Musselshell Historical Society / Museum, 36 Central Ave S, Harlowton, MT 59036; (406) 632-5519
• Victor Heritage Association, 125 N Blake St, Victor MT 59875-9470
• Western Heritage Center, 2822 Montana Avenue, Billings, Montana 59101; Telephone: (406) 256-6809
• Western Montana Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 271, Missoula MT 59806-2714
• Yellowstone Genealogy Forum, 510 N. Broadway, Billings MT 59101

Religious and Ethnic Societies

Montana Newspapers & Publications

Montana Genealogical publications (magazines, newsletters, periodicals, books, etc.) contain all types of invaluable information about specific ancestors, whole lineages and families, places in time, and about all sorts of genealogical records and repositories.

The largest collection of Montana newspapers is located at the Montana Historical Society.

A Union List of Montana Newspapers in Montana Repositories includes guides to that collection, as well as other collections of newspapers in libraries across Montana.

The University of Montana and Montana State University each have large microfilmed newspaper collections. The Montana GenWeb Project website also has a list of newspapers.

An in-depth index of Montana newspaper obituaries from the years of 1864 to 1900 can be found at the Montana Historical Society.

There is no such complete index available for years after 1900.

Newspapers

• Montana Historical Newspapers
• Montana Newspapers Directory Listings
• Montana newspapers
• Historical Newspapers from Montana (1866–1922) – Immediately discover names and keywords and phrases in over 450 million content articles, obituaries, marriage announcements, birth notices and also other items printed in over 2,800 historic U.S. newspapers. Brand new articles and other content added every month!
• Montana Newspaper List

Periodicals

Genealogical journals provide you with plenty of sources of information and facts, they are generally overlooked by genealogy and family history researchers and genealogist in looking around for family history.

Many regional and county genealogical and/or historical societies produce periodicals which have records relating to the region or vicinity they operate.

Frequently these publications have articles involving records that are not obtainable somewhere else.

• Montana: The Magazine of Western History is published quarterly by the Montana Historical Society. Available through the society are two published volumes of indexes to their magazine, one covering 1951 to 1990 and the other 1991 to 2000.
• The Montana Historical and Genealogical Data Index, compiled by Paulette Parpart and Donald Spritzer. An excellent source for information on newspapers, city and county records, cemetery records, church records, military records, and indexes to local histories and other books, magazines, and newsletters.
• Contributions to the Historical Society of Montana with its Transactions, published irregularly between 1876 and 1940. Copies are available at the Montana Historical Society. It is an excellent source of history and genealogy.

Books

• Montana Books at Amazon.com
• Montana Historical Books (1749 – 1900) – rare and fully searchable old books, historical maps and documents give fresh insights into the daily lives of your early Montana ancestors.
• Genealogy Publishing Company