I suppose Milltown's most recent claim to fame is as the site of the
Milltown Super Fund, the result of mine wastes from upstream in the Clark Fork River collecting here at Milltown, contaminating both surface and ground water supplies. In 1981, arsenic was discovered in local wells and soon the Milltown Reservoir was listed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as the first Superfund site in the country.
The best place to get a feel for the
Milltown Superfund site and to learn its history is at the
Milltown State Park, which overlooks the site. There are six historical markers in the park telling the story of this area's becoming a Superfund site and of the work that has been done, as well as what has yet to be accomplished. The markers are at the end of a paved walking path which leads downhill from a parking area on Deer Creek Road. Access to the road is from Highway 200 in Bonner via Speedway Avenue. The park also provides an excellent overall view of Milltown and area.
Milltown still has a lumber mill, so to speak, encompassed on the south and west sides by Highway 200 and the north by the Blackfoot River. The last actual mill on the site, a plywood and lumber mill, closed in 2008. In 2011 the property changed hands and was redeveloped into several smaller startup companies, the only one dealing with timber being a chipper, which continues to operate there today.
The entry from the American Series book
Montana, A State Guide Book follows.
MILLTOWN, 66.4 m. (3,521 alt, 552 pop.), exists chiefly because of the sawmill (see Tour 8) whose yards stretch along the highway and give the town its character. When the mill is in operation, a clean smell of freshly sawed timber re-enforces the visual impression.
At 71.1 m., near the western end of Hell Gate Canyon, is a curved underpass on a hill (drive with great care). In winter northeasterly storms sometimes sweep down through the "wind tunnel" here and burst upon Missoula with the force and penetrating power of Arctic blizzards. The bald knob (R) is MOUNT JUMBO which, viewed from the west by persons with sufficiently vivid imaginations has the appearance of a recumbent elephant. The rocky, forested slope of MOUNT SENTINEL (L) rises above the winding river and the campus of Montana State University (see MISSOULA).
From Montana, A State Guide Book, Page 212