Mineral County, MTGenWeb Project

Mineral County, Montana

MTGenWeb Project

J
January 2013 County of Excellence

The Mineral County MTGenWeb site is in need of a volunteer to maintain the website.
If you are interested, please conatct the MTGenWeb State Coordinator


Mineral County Overview

Mineral County boasts a lively history. It began as the westerly part of Missoula County. In 1859 Captain John Mullan and his men located a trail along the Clark Fork (Missoula) River westward. This historic trail was later improved and named the Mullan Road. In 1869 L.A. Barrett discovered gold on Cedar Creek. Shortly thereafter the town of Superior was established at the mouth of Cedar Creek. In 1890 the Northern Pacific Railroad was built through the area and in 1897 the first large lumber mill was built at St. Regis. The Milwaukee Railroad was built through the valley in 1907. The following year a devastating flood of the Clark Fork River occurred. Shortly thereafter, Mineral County experienced the trauma of the 1910 fire which destroyed many areas of Mineral County. In 1914, citizens of the area became disenchanted with the services they were receiving from Missoula County and voted to break away and create their own County. After some lively competition, Superior was chosen as the county seat. In 1933 disaster again struck the area, with a fire at St. Regis on July 11 and a flood in December. In 1946 the Missoula River underwent a name change to the Clark Fork River. It flooded the town of Superior 2 years later in 1948. The county was home to many Civilian Conservation Corps workers during the Great Depression. The Historical Registry lists three county buildings, Savenac Nursery Compound (1907), the DeBorgia School House (1908), and the Superior School House.

The County is 1,223 sq. miles; its land is 82% federal-owned, 3% state-owned and 15% privately-owned; the early mining activity resulted in its name. In recent years the economy has been largely timber-based. Many lumber mills have shared its history. There are 87 miles of river, 650 miles of streams, and over 50 high mountain lakes.

 

 

Dun & Bradstreet 1920 Listing of Merchants, Tradesmen, and Manufacturer's Business and Credit Directory (this is the forerunner to Dun & Bradstreet). Covers Mineral and Ravalli Counties.

Resources

Mineral County research

Death Records, Land Records, Military Records

Mineral County MTGenWeb Archives

Ancestry Boards

These are a wonderful resource. Post/View queries, bible records, biographies, deeds, obituaries, military pensions and wills here.

Lookup Volunteers

are needed badly! Can you help us?

Cemeteries & Funeral Homes

A list of known Mineral County Cemeteries. Volunteers needed to transcribe them!
Maps Several maps of Mineral County for your research.
Mailing List Join the Mineral County mailing list and get help from kindred researchers. Note - you may also want to join the Missoula County mailing list. It has alot more activity and Mineral County was carved out of Missoula County.

Surnames

Please submit the Mineral County surnames you are researching so that I can post them here.

Links

To other Mineral County resources.
Photos Please submit any photos that you may have for posting here.

Towns and Place Names

Taken from USGS records

Mineral County Public Library

Information about the main library in Superior and the branch libraries in Alberton & St. Regis

Current News

Parents Memorial to Son - A Fallen Marine
Neighboring Counties:
Sanders MT | Missoula MT | Shoshone ID | Clearwaterater ID

Please be aware I do not live in Minearal County, and I am not able to do local research for you. If you have specific questions, I would recommend submitting a query to Mineral Co. Message Board on Rootsweb.

 

USGenWeb Project MTGenWeb Project
  This site is temporarily maintained by Shirley Cullum, [email protected]

Thank you to Bunny Freeman, Vikki Gray, & JoAnn L. Gemmrig, previous Mineral County Coordinators.

This page was last updated Monday, September 28, 2015 09:38 PM

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