Valley County in 1930.

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1895 map of Valley County - Original Borders.

Located in the northeastern portion of the State of Montana, Valley County was created February 6, 1893 and presently contains 5,062 square miles. It is larger than the state of Connecticut, but smaller than New Jersey.

In 1893, Valley County was formed out of the Northern part of Dawson County, from those lands north of the Missouri River. At that time, Chouteau County bordered it on the west, Dawson County to the South, North Dakota to the East and the Northwest Territories to the North. In 1912, Blaine County was formed along the west side of Valley County, out of Choteau. In 1913, Sheridan County was formed from the eastern part of Valley. In 1915, Phillips County was formed from portions of Valley and Blaine Counties to the west. Valley County was further reduced in size with formation on the eastern side of Roosevelt County in 1919 and Daniels County in 1920 from portions of Sheridan and Valley Counties. Canada's interior borders also changed during that time.

Today, Valley County is bounded to the North by Saskatchewan, Canada; to the east by Daniels and Roosevelt Counties, to the south by McCone and Garfield Counties, and to the West by Phillips County.

Valley County Maps - The story of Valley County, in maps.

The county seat is Glasgow with a population of between 3,000 and 4,000. Other communities in the county include Hinsdale, Vandalia, Tampico, Fort Peck, St. Marie, Opheim, Glentana, Richland, Larslan and Nashua. The entire population of the county is between 7,000 and 8,000.

Valley County Communities

The county has an active historical society. Glasgow is the home of the Valley County Pioneer Museum, which contains many artifacts, extensive family history information and memorabilia relating to the county's very colorful history. It is located at 816 U.S. Highway 2 in west Glasgow and is open daily between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Information on this resource, as well as other Valley County resources can be found on the Resources Page.

Valley County Resources

In the early days of this frontier county, when the range was still open and the railroad was new, the newspapers reported many of Valley County's births, deaths, marriages, comings and goings, all in their own way. Peruse a selection of newspaper items.

Valley County Gazette, July 1894 to December 1895 - Selected items from the "Local" column.

The Glasgow Record, March 1895 to October 1896 - Selected items from the "Local Mention" column.

The Valley County Gazette, January to December 1896

The Valley County Gazette, January to December 1897

The Valley County Gazette, January to November 1898

The Valley County Gazette, January to December 1899

The North Montana Review, May through December 1899 - Selected items from the "Local News" column.

Dan Shurtliff is your MTGenWeb host for Valley County. Although I no longer live in Montana, I have close ties to the county. I own Footprints in the Valley, a three volume set of books about the history of the county and its residents. I also own A history of KLTZ “Kiltz” Radio, The Beacon of Glasgow. For lookups, feel free to contact me.

Neighboring Counties, Provinces and MTGenWeb Resources

This website was last updated January 7, 2019. It was created in 2008 and is maintained by Dan Shurtliff. Copyright © 2008, 2009, 2019.