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Bear creek6/2/2023 ![]() In addition, Bearcreek plays host every autumn to Montana Falconer Symposium, the state's largest gathering of falcon trainers and birds of prey enthusiasts. The town is home to the Bearcreek Saloon which hosts fundraising pig races throughout the year. Many buildings in Bearcreek and the surrounding communities were moved to other towns or demolished, and only a few structures remain. The Smith Mine Disaster in 1943, followed by the decline in demand for coal in the late 1940s and 1950s caused the closure of the connecting railroad in 1953 and subsequently most of the coal mines, and the population declined steadily to less than 100 persons. ![]() The economy of Bear Creek was based on coal. Bearcreek and the surrounding communities had seven mercantiles, a bank, two hotels, two billiard halls, a brickyard, numerous saloons, and Bearcreek sported concrete sidewalks and their own water system. At one time in the 1920s and 1930s the population of Bearcreek combined with the other surrounding small communities was close to 3,000 persons. The recent immigrants built separate ethnic-based communities in the steep coulees that run down into Bearcreek, with names like Washoe, New Caledonia, Chickentown, Scotch Coulee, International, and Stringtown. They came from other parts of America, and from Serbia, Montenegro, Germany, Scotland and Italy. The development of the coal mines after 1906 drew miners to the area. The mines were located along the creek and also in the surrounding coulees. Between 19, the mines at Bearcreek produced large volumes of coal, which was a higher grade than other regional sources, from the extensive underground coal mining deposits. Bearcreek came into existence due to coal mines and grew rapidly following the building of a short line railroad connecting the Bearcreek mines to the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1906. ![]() The town of Bearcreek was named for Bear Creek, which runs through the middle of town. The town was platted and incorporated after the arrival of the Montana, Wyoming & Southern Railroad in 1906. The Bearcreek Post Office was established on Novemwith Sarah Criger as the town's first postmaster. History īearcreek owes its existence to area coal mining that began in the 1890s to supply coal for the Northern Pacific Railway and the Anaconda Company. Situated on Montana Secondary Highway 308, Bearcreek is about halfway between Red Lodge and Belfry.Īccording to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.12 square miles (0.31 km 2), all land. The population was 91 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Billings, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area. Smith Mine Historic District, Montana Highway 308 Bearcreekīearcreek is an incorporated town in Carbon County, Montana, United States.
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