Raynesford, Montana
Information
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Raynesford Post Office
101 Main Street Raynesford, MT 59469 Phone: 406-738-4394 Geyser Public School Geyser, MT 59447 406-735-4368 WWW.GEYSER.K12.MT.US Judith Basin Press 117 Central Ave. P.O. Box 524 Stanford, Montana 59479 406-566-2471 WWW.JUDITHBASINPRESS.NET |
Judith Basin County Courthouse
91 3rd Street N. Stanford, MT 59479 Phone: 406-566-2212 WWW.JBCOUNTY.ORG JB Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 223 Stanford, MT 59479 WWW.JBCHAMBER.COM |
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Brief History
Raynesford was the maiden name of a woman who boarded the Great Northern survey crew while the railroad was being built. The new station was between Stanford and Belt.
Land for the townsite was obtained from Edmund Higgins, who homesteaded the land around here in 1891. In 1907, when the railroad was coming through, supplies for the workers came from Higgins and his wife, for whom the station was named. (from Cheney’s Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company).
When mining was king in Montana, railroad tracks snaked through mountain ranges to reach small boom towns and haul ore to market. Raynesford is near the small present-day communities of Monarch and Neihart and the ghost towns of Albright and Hughesville. One railroad ran up Belt Creek, and the abandoned railroad bed is now the main component and access route of Sluice Boxes State Park.
Soaring cliffs and precipitous ledges mark the Belt Creek Canyon as it slices out of the Little Belt Mountains and winds toward the town of Belt. Sluice Boxes State Park consists of the northern most eight miles of the Belt Creek canyon. The train bridges have been removed and visitors must ford the creek.
Raynesford is located in Judith Basin County, an agriculturally rich region. The homesteading boom from 1908 to 1915 and the extension of the Great Northern Railroad played an important role in the development of this area. Raynesford takes its name after the woman who ran the local boarding house for the railroad crew while the line was being built.
Land for the townsite was obtained from Edmund Higgins, who homesteaded the land around here in 1891. In 1907, when the railroad was coming through, supplies for the workers came from Higgins and his wife, for whom the station was named. (from Cheney’s Names on the Face of Montana, Mountain Press Publishing Company).
When mining was king in Montana, railroad tracks snaked through mountain ranges to reach small boom towns and haul ore to market. Raynesford is near the small present-day communities of Monarch and Neihart and the ghost towns of Albright and Hughesville. One railroad ran up Belt Creek, and the abandoned railroad bed is now the main component and access route of Sluice Boxes State Park.
Soaring cliffs and precipitous ledges mark the Belt Creek Canyon as it slices out of the Little Belt Mountains and winds toward the town of Belt. Sluice Boxes State Park consists of the northern most eight miles of the Belt Creek canyon. The train bridges have been removed and visitors must ford the creek.
Raynesford is located in Judith Basin County, an agriculturally rich region. The homesteading boom from 1908 to 1915 and the extension of the Great Northern Railroad played an important role in the development of this area. Raynesford takes its name after the woman who ran the local boarding house for the railroad crew while the line was being built.
