While not as glamorous as gold, coal played a critical part in Montana’s history. It fueled the railroads, fired the smelters, and heated Montana homes. Much of the state’s economy was once based on coal. Extensive bituminous coal deposits were discovered near here in the early 1880s. The coal’s high quality drew the attention of railroad tycoon James J. Hill, who constructed a spur line between Great Falls and Stockett in 1888. For decades, the 14-mile spur line carried coal from the mines at Tracy, Centerville, Stockett, and Sand Coulee. The coal powered locomotives, provided fuel for the Anaconda Copper Mining Company’s smelter at Great Falls, and was used for domestic purposes throughout central Montana. The coal camps near the mines were wide open towns where “saloons were filled with miners relaxing after [a] hard day’s work in the pits, and nobody looked ahead much farther than the next pay day.” By 1928, the smelter in Great Falls had converted to natural gas and the railroad’s steam locomotives burned oil instead of coal. The last commercial coal mine in the Sand Coulee District closed in 1929 and the railroad abandoned the spur line in 1932.
Slide toward Today to fade the historical sheet and see the modern map underneath.