09/07/2026
Welcome to Montana Mondays, our weekly series dedicated to uncovering the rich and rugged history of Montana!
During the 1890’s, Merino, Montana was a small town that was a stop on the stage line. That changed when Richard Harlow decided to make a train depot for his Montana Railroad just a mile north of Merino. In 1900, the newly rebranded town, Harlowton, was platted and construction began. Despite a fire leveling the town just the year before, in 1908 the train complex included the depot, a roundhouse, a freight house, and shops. The Montana Railroad was purchased by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific Railroad in 1911.
In 1920, Harlowton was a bustling railroad city, its population more than doubling from 770 to 1,856. It was the eastern edge of the longest (430 miles) electrified line in the nation, ending in Avery, Idaho. As part of the “Milwaukee Road,” one of three transcontinental train lines, Harlowton served both freight and passenger trains. The Milwaukee railroad also debuted the dome-style observation passenger car that is still used by Amtrak today. After a long period of decline, the railroad was abandoned in 1980.
Today the Harlowton Depot is a museum with both scale models and full-size railroad exhibits. About a block away is the Upper Musselshell Museum with further railroad information and models.
Sources: https://harlomilwdepot.org/about/ , https://www.harlowtonmuseum.org/pederson-collection.php , https://historicmt.org/items/show/3446 , https://www.mtmemory.org/
For more Montana history, please check out the 978.6 section of the library!
