Richey in Dawson County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Richey
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 17, 2019
1. Richey Marker
In the fall of 1909, a Great Northern Railway survey crew came through here and by 1912 all of the surrounding area had been homesteaded except the badlands. Those early years were hard on the settlers. In spite of the survey, there were no roads, no railroad, no market, no grain elevators and some years no crops!
In 1911 one of the homesteaders, Clyde Richey, applied for a post office to serve the area, and the town has borne his name ever since. As the railroad built in this direction, a squatter town sprouted up on the prairie and farmers sold stock to build an elevator. In 1916, Great Northern officially surveyed a townsite and sold lots. The "old town" merchants quickly moved to be near the depot and the first newspaper began publication. The entire community celebrated Steel Day, Dec. 2, 1916, when the first train arrived on the tracks, laying the last ties before it as it came.
The Great Northern intended to extend the line across central Montana into Lewiston, but World War I interrupted those plans and the line terminated at Richey. As in so many areas, the other small towns nearby died out as the railroad
this page online
Erected by Montana Department of Transportation.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical date for this entry is December 2, 1916.
Location. 47° 38.445′ N, 105° 4.004′ W. Marker is in Richey, Montana, in Dawson County. It can be reached from State Highway 200 at milepost 27 near South Main Street/South 4th Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Richey MT 59259, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Montana’s Missouri River Country. It is also in the American Mountain West, in the Lewis & Clark Corridor, on the prairies, on the Great Plains, and specifically on the Northern Plains. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
More about this marker. This marker is located at
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 17, 2019
2. Richey Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on December 27, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 6, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 736 times since then and 74 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on December 6, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
