In the foothills of the Snowy Mountains, Grass Range lies along Highway 87 about 50 miles (80 km.) east of Lewistown. At an elevation of 3,484 feet (1,062 metres), the little hamlet of Grass Range covers an area of just 0.14 square miles (0.36 km
2). The first post office in Grass Range opened on March 27, 1883. Today Grass Rangians rely upon a relatively new and substantial wood framed building for its postal services which was opened in 1984, exactly 101 years after its first post office began operating. Other civic buildings in the town consist of the old fire hall, purportedly now the town hall, to the south of the post office, and a new, larger, fire hall across the street. At the southeast corner of the hamlet is the Grass Range High School.
This town is SO SMALL that it has no web presence and, until recently, didn't even have a Town Hall. In the very recent past, however, Grass Range managed to built itself a beautiful brand new Ambulance - QRU (Quick Response Unit) - Fire Hall, leaving the old fire hall derelict... ...UNTIL, that is, the town decided it would make a grand Town Hall, so they made it so. When we visited, however, they still hadn't gotten round to taking down the old lettering and re lettering it as the Town Hall.
Grass Range came by its name for some of the finest open grazing land to be found in central Montana, which immediately attracted cattle ranchers to the area. Though it remains so today it's apparent that a certain amount of grain growing onceadded to the local economy as it retains a single, small wood cribbed elevator. While the now faded
Montana Elevator Company name remains painted on the side of the elevator, a nearby warehouse sports a sign bearing the name
Finkbeiner Elevator.
The Milwaukee railroad reached Grass Range on August 13, 1913 and grain elevators soon followed. The May 17, 1917 edition of the
Grass Range Review mentions that Grass Range received a second grain elevator at that time. Shortly after, a third elevator enhanced the skyline of the town. The August 21, 1941 edition of the
Grass Range Review makes mention that the
Montana Elevator Company elevator was enlarged in capacity by 11,000 bushels, giving it a capacity of 33,000 bushels.
By 1913, with the arrival of the Milwaukee railroad, there were 10 restaurants, and at least 3 hotels, a drug store, a confectionery, many stores and saloons, a blacksmith, railroad depot and livery stables. The
Grass Range Review was initiated in January of 1913, continuing in operation until 1942. In 1898 a log school was built on a nearby ranch and in 1900 was moved to Grass Range, just west of the Methodist Church. Grass Range's next school was built and used in the fall of 1914, a two-room frame schoolhouse. Also in 1914, the Methodist Church was built. The town's flour mill was built in 1917.
By 1922 there was a Creamery, 3 elevators, the Grass Range Hotel, Young's Hotel, the Custer Inn, the Corner Restaurant, the Grass Range Mercantile, Clark's Store, and others. There was also Pioneer Garage, Laird & Laird Garage, Johnson's Service Station, the Grass Range Review Printing Office, Irish's Buffet, saloon and several other businesses. Business was good and times were prosperous. Then ...
... in 1931, the National Bank closed as a result of losses in their loans to ranchers and others, and a general decline in the economy. There was a succession of business failures, and closings, and fires, and many left town and the country nearby. In the early 30s, the drought and grasshoppers, combined with the depression, caused many to leave the country. So the town kept losing population and enterprises... ...In 1973 the Milwaukee Railroad took up the tracks from Grass Range to Winnett.
From Montana Memory
With a present population of only 110 hardy souls, Grass Range is somewhat, possibly substantially, smaller than it once was. Today the hamlet looks a bit the worse for wear, but continues to soldier on. Though once a supply centre for surrounding ranches and farms, improved roads and vehicles today mean that few desire to shop in small towns, preferring to drive the necessary 50 to 100 miles to get their groceries and farm supplies. As a result Main Street is bereft of shopping outlets, service or gas stations. Even the old
Grass Range Mercantile, across the street from a long vacant service station, is now gone. Across the alley to the south stands the only substantial commercial building in the hamlet, a two storey brick building housing what appears to be a what-not shoppe. Outside of town, along Highway 87, is a gas station and cafe and another cafe.
Its being the end of the Great Depression, when the writers of the American Guide Series passed through Grass Range they couldn't think of much to say about the little community.
GRASS RANGE
117.9 m. (3,488 alt, 212 pop.), is a prairie town, spread out, in the words of one resident, "most as big as Chicago." Here, as in many other Montana towns, it is not unusual to see a rancher driving a late-model automobile with a sheep dog, a ewe, or even a calf in the back seat. Livestock paid for the car livestock ride in it if the need arises. Most ranchers prefer the "pick-up" or station-wagon type of automobile, which can haul a load of salt, supplies for camp tenders, a ewe with lambs, or a barrel of water without difficulty. The typical Montana rancher puts the modern high-powered car to tests never thought of on the proving grounds; he drives wherever there is a track for one wheel, climbing rocky ridges that, a few years ago, he would have negotiated on foot leading his horses and wagon.
From Montana, A State Guide Book, Page 257