Thompson Falls is the county seat for Sanders County
Adjacent to Sanders County, Montana
Flathead County(131) ► Lake County(10) ► Lincoln County(4) ► Mineral County(23) ► Missoula County(150) ► Bonner County, Idaho(9) ► Shoshone County, Idaho(60) ►
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On North Wall Street near Second Avenue North, on the left when traveling north.
Native peoples occupied the Little Bitterroot River Valley and enjoyed its healing hot springs long before European trappers and traders encroached upon local resources. In 1855, an 80-acre area around the hot springs was set aside as a government . . . — — Map (db m219652) HM
On State Highway 135, 1.2 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
More than 240 miles (456 km) east of here, Silver Bow Creek tumbles west from the Continental Divide above Butte, Montana. Thus begins the Clark Fork River, which drains more than 22,000 square miles of western Montana before it flows into Idaho. . . . — — Map (db m45194) HM
On State Highway 135, 3.3 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
Native people hunted this area 9,000 years ago for bighorn sheep, elk and long-horned bison. Making “seasonal rounds” to specific locations, they maintained a comfortable lifeway by hunting, fishing and harvesting native plants. . . . — — Map (db m45191) HM
On State Highway 135, 3.3 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
Imagine a rock so old and so deep, that in some places, the bottom has never been found! The mountains you have been driving through are made up of such a rock—the Prichard Formation. Dating back 1.5 billion years, it is one of the oldest . . . — — Map (db m45192) HM
On State Highway 135, 1.2 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
David Thompson was the first Euro-American to record his travels along this stretch of the river. Early in 1809 he came through searching for an ideal site to establish a fur trading post. Later that fall he built the “Saleesh House” . . . — — Map (db m45195) HM
On State Highway 135, 3.3 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
For thousands of years the Sqelixw—people of the Salish, Pend Oreille and Kalispel tribes—inhabited the valleys of the Clark Fork and other rivers of western Montana. They used their extensive knowledge of the natural world to create and . . . — — Map (db m45190) HM
On State Highway 135, 1.2 miles south of State Highway 200, on the right when traveling south.
Bighorn sheep, elk, mule deer, and white-tailed deer-you may see any of these large mammals grazing in this area, depending on the season. Most spend their summer higher above the river and move to lower, snow-free pastures in winter.
Look for . . . — — Map (db m45197) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 67 near Old Hicks Road, on the right when traveling west.
By the second decade of the nineteenth century, the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) had become a dominant presence in northwestern Montana, bartering trade goods for furs with the Kootenai, Pend d'Oreille, and Salish People. In 1812, the company built a . . . — — Map (db m219342) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 67 near Old Hicks Road, on the right when traveling west.
"They go to Buffalo twice a year - first, 'to bulls' ... second 'for cows' ..." 1857, R.H. Lansdale, Indian Agent, Washington Territory
At Horse Plains "... a village of Indians collected here who never go for buffalo ..." . . . — — Map (db m219341) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 67 near Old Hicks Road, on the right when traveling west.
Stop by this wetland on a spring evening to hear the loud ribbitt, ribbitt of hundreds of Pacific tree frogs. They share their haven with a host of amphibians, reptiles, and aquatic insects. What makes this Western Montana wetland . . . — — Map (db m219343) HM
On Railroad Avenue at McGowan Street, on the right when traveling west on Railroad Avenue.
Wild Horse Plains is nestled in a circular valley at an elevation of 2,450 ft., drained by the Clark Fork River. Between 70,000 and 130,000 years ago the Bull Lake ice age glaciers dammed the Clark Fork River Valley creating Glacial Lake Missoula. . . . — — Map (db m219335) HM
On Park Street at Preston Avenue when traveling north on Park Street.
Prominent contractor Charles Doenges built this delightful Bungalow style dwelling in 1922 during a housing shortage related to the building of Thompson Falls’ hydroelectric dam. The home was one of several rental properties built and maintained by . . . — — Map (db m219644) HM
On Maiden Lane at South Jefferson Street, on the left when traveling east on Maiden Lane.
In 1910, the newly incorporated town of Thompson Falls was shedding its frontier image. That year saw the organization of local power and water companies, the opening of a public library, and the construction of the town’s first Bungalow style . . . — — Map (db m219534) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 59 near Fruitland Lane, on the right when traveling west.
The nearby Bad Rock Trail was an important route for the aboriginal people who inhabited northwest Montana. The first documented account of the trail was by North West Company trader David Thompson in 1809. Located within sight of the company's . . . — — Map (db m219346) HM
The beginning of the twentieth century brought a new and conscious emphasis on natural surroundings, which found architectural expression through the Bungalow style. The Bedard House, built by Charles Wicksell and Ecton Browne from a pattern book . . . — — Map (db m219547) HM
On West Main Street (State Highway 200) near Mill Street, on the right when traveling west.
Named in honor of surveyor and fur trader David Thompson (1770-1857), the first known explorer to reach Sanders County. Born in England, young David enrolled in a London charity school for orphan boys at age 7. Upon his 14th birthday he was sent . . . — — Map (db m219545) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 59 near Fruitland Lane, on the right when traveling west.
"... saw about a dozen of Sheep, sorely wounded one of them with Shot but the Rocks were too steep and the cold & the Snow too bad..."
Fur trader, explorer and geographer David Thompson was the first European visitor to the middle . . . — — Map (db m219421) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 59 near Fruitland Lane, on the right when traveling west.
For many thousands of years, this area has been a favorite hunting, fishing and food-gathering area for the Olispé (Pend d'Oreille) people, many of whom live today on the Flathead Reservation. The Salish-language name for the Thompson Falls area is . . . — — Map (db m219422) HM
On North Gallatin Street near West Odgen Avenue, on the right when traveling north.
On Christmas Day of 1914 the Sanders County Ledger reported that “…no town in western Montana … has advanced with the same rapid strides as Thompson Falls.” Indeed, the town possessed all the modern trappings: new streetlights illuminated the . . . — — Map (db m219643) HM
On State Highway 200 at milepost 52 near Golf Street, on the right when traveling west.
Seeing the country being denuded of beaver, Thompson wrote: "Every intelligent man saw the poverty that would follow the destruction of the beaver, but there were no chiefs to control it; all was perfect liberty and equality." David . . . — — Map (db m219424) HM
On State Highway 200 at Golf Street, on the left when traveling east on State Highway 200.
In November 1809, famed British North West Company agent and explorer David Thompson built a trading post about five miles east of here near the mouth of the Thompson River.
Strategically located on a well-worn aboriginal trail, Saleesh House was . . . — — Map (db m112921) HM
On South Madison Street at Maiden Lane, on the right when traveling north on South Madison Street.
Prominent landowner and state senator Edward Donlan won a political victory in the 1906 legislature with the designation of Thompson Falls as county seat for Sanders County over the rival town of Plains. By compromise, most county posts were filled . . . — — Map (db m219529) HM
On Maiden Lane near Pond Street, on the right when traveling west.
Missoula senator Edward Donlan, Dr. Everett Peek, and Arthur Preston organized the Thompson Falls Light and Power Company in 1910 to develop electricity for the community and promote the concept of a hydroelectric power station. The monumental . . . — — Map (db m219647) HM
On West Main Street (State Highway 200) at Fulton Street, on the right when traveling east on West Main Street.
Edward Donlan, who built this building as the Ward Hotel in 1907-1908, was significant in Thompson Falls history. At age twelve, the Canadian boy of Irish descent left home and went to work. Laying track south of Neihart brought him to Montana, . . . — — Map (db m127689) HM
On West Main Street at Mill Street on West Main Street.
Thompson Falls enjoyed a growth spurt and a new sense of stability at the dawn of the twentieth century, underscored by the construction of several substantial brick buildings. Charles Weber’s general mercantile store was the town’s second building . . . — — Map (db m219536) HM
