The town of Deweyville was officially incorporated on April 28, 1903, but only lived a short while - three months, to be precise. The town fathers, you see, discovered that there was already a
Dewey in Montana and the name was changed to Eureka forthwith. Eureka was established in anticipation of the coming of the Great Northern Railway, which was building a spur from Whitefish, to the south, to Rexford, to the west of Eureka. The first train from Kalispell rolled into town nearly a year and a half after Eureka's incorporation, on October 2, 1904.
There is a very entertaining story of how, when Lincoln County was created, Eureka won an election to be the county seat, yet still failed to become the county seat. It's outlined in some detail below.
Today a town of about 1,100, Eureka continues to plod along, neither growing nor shrinking. The odd new building indicates the town's desire to grow. At the south end of Eureka the town has built a wonderful museum, the
Tobacco Valley Historical Village, replete with old farm tractors and equipment, wagons, a forestry lookout tower, many historical buildings, bright red caboose and much more. Many sign boards located at various locations explain some of Eureka's unique history, local culture and flora and fauna. The Chamber of Commerce is also located in the village and provides local information, attractions, and small map of the area.
Elzeor Demers, Ovide Peltier, J. J. Sullivan, and Abram L. Jaqueth drew up the Deweyville Townsite Company articles of incorporation on April 28, 1903. The name Deweyville was proposed in honor of Elzeor Demers’s wife, the former Amine Dewey. The directors changed the name of the proposed town to Eureka 3 months later when they discovered another Dewey in Montana. The town expanded along the new Great Northern Railway main line between Whitefish and Jennings, and the first train arrived from Kalispell on October 2, 1904. Hard on the heels of the first train was the construction of the Bader and Bottom Sawmill, which eventually became the Eureka Lumber Company. With the creation of Lincoln County in 1909, Eureka squared off against Libby in a special election for the coveted county seat and won, 656 votes to 638. Libby challenged the results, claiming that the election was improper since the Montana legislature had declared Libby the county seat. In July 1911, the Montana Supreme Court reversed its April 1911 decision in favor of Eureka and eventually ruled in Libby’s favor. A well-intentioned and slightly inebriated citizen of Eureka assumed that the county seat was literally a seat and, according to The Story of Tobacco Plains (p. 212), urged other stout hearts: “Come along you fellows, I’ll hitch up my four-horse team to my wagon; I’ll go down to that blankety-blank Libby and I’ll load’er up, that county seat, and bring’er right up here in my wagon!” The Farmers and Merchants State Bank and the Eureka Community Hall are listed in the National Register.
From the Montana Place Names Companion
The entry from the American Guide Series book
Montana, A State Guide Book follows.
EUREKA, 8.9 m. (2,571 alt., 860 pop.), is slowly climbing up a hillside above its first buildings on the banks of Tobacco River. After its large sawmill burned in 1923, the town developed a Christmas market for evergreens; sixty-eight carloads of small firs were shipped to eastern markets in 1935. Huckleberries grow in abundance on the mountain sides.
From Montana, A State Guide Book, Page