The community of Somers came into being in 1901 when the Great Northern Railway built an 11 mile spur line south from Kalispell to a sawmill on the shore of Flathead Lake. Initially the purpose of the mill was to supply railroad ties to the Great Northern. Originally owned by local businessman John O'Brien, the sawmill was bought outright in 1906 by the Great Northern's J.J. Hill and continued to produce lumber at the rate of 30 million board feet per year. By 1910 it had become the largest sawmill in the Flathead Valley.
Around that time the town's water tower was erected on a hill
near the south end of town. Being on a hill, the water pressure below the hill must be, shall we say, "Adequate". All steel, the tower stands on built up trussed steel legs. The tank would today be considered a somewhat odd shape with a conical roof ala "The Tin Man", a half sphere bottom and a cylindrical centre section. We have seen other water towers in Montana of the same vintage with almost exactly the same shape. The
water tower at Fort Missoula, built in 1912, is one which comes to mind.
As one would expect, the water tower is also the Somers cell tower, the antennas being almost not noticeable.
While the sawmill closed and was dismantled in 1949, Somers lives on, the trading centre for an agricultural area, with much fruit growing taking place in the vicinity. The community, unincorporated and remaining a census-designated place, is also a summer resort and vacation spot, situated at the northwest corner of Flathead Lake. The population today stands in the vicinity of 1,200.