Fergus County, Montana

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 4350 sqmi, of which 4340 sqmi is land and 11 sqmi (0.2%) is water. When established in 1886, Fergus County, Montana Territory, was a massive, undivided entity of 7,524 square miles. The county was centered around Lewistown, with 209 townships in a rapidly developing, expansive agricultural and mining region, prior to later divisions into Musselshell (part 1911), Judith Basin (part 1920), Golden Valley (4 October 1920 part from Musselshell), and Petroleum (1925) counties. To organize and administer old Fergus County, districts were created. These districts, rather than the townships, were used to enumerate the population in the 1900 Federal Census.

Adjacent counties

• Chouteau County – northwest
• Blaine County – north
• Phillips County – northeast
• Petroleum County – east
• Musselshell County – southeast
• Golden Valley County – south
• Wheatland County – southwest
• Judith Basin County – west

Major highways

• [[Image:US 87.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 87
• [[Image:US 191.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 191
• [[Image:MT-3.svg|20px]] Montana Highway 3
• [[Image:MT-80.svg|20px]] Montana Highway 80
• [[Image:MT-81.svg|20px]] Montana Highway 81
• [[Image:MT-200.svg|20px]] Montana Highway 200

National protected areas

• Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Lewis and Clark National Forest (part)
• Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (part)

Military Installations

• LGM-30 Minuteman silos D-01 thru D-11 of the 10th Missile Squadron, 341st Missile Wing, 20th Air Force, assigned to Malmstrom AFB, Montana

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 11,446. Of the residents, 20.7% were under the age of 18 and 26.3% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 47.5 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.6 males. 52.6% of residents lived in urban areas and 47.4% lived in rural areas.

The racial makeup of the county was 93.2% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% Asian, 0.5% from some other race, and 4.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.0% of the population.

There were 5,032 households in the county, of which 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 23.9% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 6,013 housing units, of which 16.3% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 72.2% were owner-occupied and 27.8% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 10.2%.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 11,586 people, 5,099 households, and 3,202 families living in the county. The population density was 2.7 PD/sqmi. There were 5,836 housing units at an average density of 1.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% white, 1.2% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 30.8% were German, 15.9% were English, 14.7% were Norwegian, 12.8% were Irish, and 4.2% were American.

Of the 5,099 households, 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.2% were non-families, and 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age was 47.8 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,607 and the median income for a family was $48,623. Males had a median income of $35,110 versus $21,225 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,295. About 12.5% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Since the 1964 election, the Republican candidate has been selected in every election.

Communities

City

• Lewistown (county seat)

Towns

• Denton
• Grass Range
• Moore
• Winifred

Unincorporated communities

• Amherst
• Buffalo
• Christina
• Eddies Corner
• Fergus
• Forest Grove
• Garneill
• Giltedge
• Hanover
• Heath
• Hoosac
• Maiden
• Moore
• Piper
• Roy
• Straw
• Valentine
• Ware

Former communities

Moulton

Census-designated places

• Ayers Ranch Colony
• Brooks
• Coffee Creek
• Danvers
• Deerfield Colony
• Fords Creek Colony
• Hilger
• King Ranch Colony
• Lewistown Heights
• Roy
• Spring Creek Colony
• Warm Spring Creek

Notable people

• Roy E. Ayers, member of the United States House of Representatives and 11th Governor of Montana; served as the attorney of the county from 1905 to 1909.
• Carl W. Riddick, House of Representatives from the Second District of Montana, served as County Assessor of Fergus County.

References

References

1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau.
2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties.
3. "Fergus County - Home".
4. Gannett, Henry. (1905). "The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States". Govt. Print. Off..
5. (August 22, 2012). "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau.
6. [https://www.us-census.org/states/montana/teams/Fergus1900.htm Fergus County, Montana District Boundary Descriptions]. 1900 Federal Census Team Transcription. U.S. GenWeb Census Project. Accessed 29 January 2026.
7. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024". United States Census Bureau.
8. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
9. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
10. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
11. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
12. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)". United States Census Bureau.
13. (2023). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic and Housing Characteristics (DHC)". United States Census Bureau.
14. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)". United States Census Bureau.
15. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections".
16. The leading "other" candidate, [[Progressive Party (United States, 1912). Progressive]] [[Theodore Roosevelt]], received 1,104 votes, while Socialist candidate [[Eugene V. Debs. Eugene Debs]] received 421 votes.
17. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Eddies+Corner,+MT+59464/@46.983314,-109.7542201,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5346cd4f3894ca3b:0x72fa14d90844394d!8m2!3d46.9833002!4d-109.7454653 ''Eddies Corner, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
18. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Giltedge,+MT+59457/@47.1269327,-109.2108704,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5340cb0a5e69df53:0x8b467daa913908a0!8m2!3d47.126919!4d-109.2021156 ''Giltedge, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
19. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hanover,+MT+59457/@47.1213767,-109.563386,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5340d66c97a02e75:0x780892e9120c5b70!8m2!3d47.121363!4d-109.5546312 ''Hanover, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
20. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Maiden,+MT+59457/@47.1777673,-109.2389276,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5340c96e5e000e17:0xf81f14467e26e10e!8m2!3d47.1777536!4d-109.2301728 ''Maiden, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
21. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Moore,+MT+59464/@46.9765029,-109.7008676,16z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5346d290c4510f4d:0xef63cd7e6f9ddd19!8m2!3d46.975523!4d-109.6968536 ''Moore, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
22. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Piper,+MT+59457/@46.9899852,-109.2092034,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5347319e3577c6b1:0x4db982fb900c6d0b!8m2!3d46.9899714!4d-109.2004486 ''Piper, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
23. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Roy,+MT+59471/@47.3348182,-108.9680332,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5340a1b55b510f53:0x5697e8ae6e7beee7!8m2!3d47.3333305!4d-108.9586457 ''Roy, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
24. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Straw,+MT+59464/@46.854141,-109.7983861,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x5346c8e59832645f:0x3e447d88bcd5db46!8m2!3d46.8541272!4d-109.7896313 ''Straw, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
25. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Valentine,+MT+59471/@47.3116684,-108.430831,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x533f494d5dcd58b9:0xe37c2c0865a05742!8m2!3d47.3116547!4d-108.4220761 ''Valentine, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
26. [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ware,+MT+59457/@47.1844328,-109.6767213,15z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x534127c136ed7fd5:0x921cfcbfbc2294c0!8m2!3d47.1844191!4d-109.6679665 ''Ware, Fergus County MT'' Google Maps (accessed January 1, 2019)]
27. "Montana Governor Roy Elmer Ayers". National Governors Association.
28. "RIDDICK, Carl Wood, (1872–1960)".