Timeline of Billings, Montana explained

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Billings, Montana, USA.

Prior to 20th century

• 1877 – Homesteaders arrive.
• 1882
  • March 24, 1882: Incorporation date of the Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company.^[1]
  • First church established.
  • Billings Depot built.
  • Billings Herald newspaper begins publication.^[2]
  • Billings Cemetery established.
• 1883
  • Coulson-Billings street railway begins operating.
  • Billings Fire Brigade organized.
• 1885 – Billings Daily Gazette newspaper begins publication.
• 1889 – Town becomes part of new State of Montana.
• 1891 – The Weekly Times newspaper begins publication.

20th century

• 1901 – Public Library established.^{[3] [4]}
• 1902 – Billings and Northern Railroad in operation.
• 1903 – Moss Mansion (residence) built.
• 1904 – Northern Hotel in business.
• 1906 – Babcock Theater built.^[5]
• 1908 – Billings Polytechnic founded.
• 1910
  • Masonic Temple (Billings, Montana) built.
  • Population: 10,031.
• 1912 – Billings and Central Montana Railway in operation.
• 1917 – Cereal Food Processor Building constructed.
• 1927 – Eastern Montana Normal School founded.
• 1928 – Billings Municipal Airport begins operating.^[6]
• 1929 – Yale Oil refinery begins operating.^[7]
• 1931 – Fox Theater opens.
• 1932 – Cobb Field baseball park opens.
• 1935 – Intermountain Union College relocated to Billings (approximate date).
• 1937 – Pictograph Cave excavation begins near city.
• 1940 – Billings Senior High School opens.
• 1944 – St. Patrick's High School established.
• 1947
  • Rocky Mountain College established.
  • Carter Oil Company refinery built near Billings.^[8]
• 1948 – Billings Mustangs baseball team formed.
• 1950
  • Billings Symphony Orchestra founded.
  • Shrine Auditorium built.
  • Population: 31,834.
• 1953 – Billings Studio Theater company founded.
• 1957 – Yellowstone County Courthouse built.
• 1958 – June 2: Tornado.
• 1959 – Billings West High School established.
• 1962 – Kampgrounds of America headquartered in Billings.
• 1964 – Yellowstone Art Center opens.
• 1969 – Billings Vocational-Technical Education Center (BVTC) opens.
• 1971 – Western Heritage Center opens.
• 1974 – Sage Tower built.
• 1975
  • Montana Entertainment Trade and Recreation Arena opens.
  • Granite Tower built.
  • Rimrock Mall in business.
• 1977 – Norwest Bank built.
• 1980
  • Sheraton Hotel built.
  • City covered in ash from 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
  • Population: 66,798.
• 1982 – Rocky Plaza condos built.
• 1985 – First Interstate Center built.
• 1986 – Flag of Billings, Montana design adopted.
• 1987 – Skyview High School established.
• 1988 – City filled with smoke from Yellowstone fires of 1988.
• 1990 – Population: 81,151.^[9]
• 1992 – December 18: Airplane crash.^[10]
• 1993
  • Billings Bulls ice hockey team formed.
  • Community members protest antisemitism, launching the Not In Our Town movement.
• 1994
  • Montana Women's Prison in operation.^[11]
  • Eastern Montana College and the Vocational-Technical Education Center become Montana State University Billings.
• 1995 – ZooMontana opens.
• 1996 – Charles Tooley becomes mayor.^[12]
• 1999
  • Four Dances Natural Area acquired by US Bureau of Land Management.^[13]
  • City website online.^[14]
  • Mormon Temple dedicated.

21st century

• 2000 – Population: 89,847.
• 2002 – Skypoint awning/sculpture installed.
• 2007 – Billings Dharma Center dedicated.^[15]
• 2008 – Dehler Park (stadium) opens.
• 2009
  • Magic City Rollers roller derby league formed.^[16]
  • Tom Hanel becomes mayor.^[17]
• 2010
  • June 20: 2010 Billings tornado.^[18]
  • Population: 104,170.
• 2011 – July: Oil pipeline bursts near city.^[19]
• 2012
  • New federal courthouse built.^[20]
  • Northern Hotel reopens.
• 2014 – New public library built.^[21]
• 2017 – Bill Cole becomes mayor.
• 2020 – Population: 117,116.
• 2022 – Shrine Auditorium reopens as the Eagle Seeker Community Center.^[22]
• 2023 – Rocky Vista University Montana College of Osteopathic Medicine opens.^[23]
• 2024
  • Inner Belt Loop (Skyway Drive) completed.^[24]
  • Billings Logan International Airport adds 3 gates and 4 jet bridges.^[25]

See also

• Billings Metropolitan Area
• Crow Indian Reservation, established 1868
• History of Montana
• List of mayors of Billings, Montana
• Media in Billings, Montana
• Sections of Billings, Montana
• State of Montana
• Territory of Montana
• Timeline of Montana history
  • Timeline of pre-statehood Montana history

Bibliography

• • National Magazine . November 1905 . Boston . Billings, Montana .
  • Book: Montana: a State Guide Book . Federal Writers' Project . . 1939 . NY . Viking Press . Billings . . 2027/mdp.39015005748036 . Federal Writers' Project . + Chronology
• Kliewer, Waldo O. "The Foundations of Billings, Montana." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 31.3 (1940): 255–283. online
• Van West, Carroll. Capitalism on the frontier: Billings and the Yellowstone Valley in the nineteenth century (U of Nebraska Press, 1993) online.
• (fulltext via Open Library)
• Book: David J. Wishart. David J. Wishart . Encyclopedia of the Great Plains . 2004 . http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.ct.000.xml . University of Nebraska Press . 0-8032-4787-7 . Cities and Towns: Billings, Montana . .
• Hardt, Mark D. "The Emergence of a Competitive Core: Bifurcation Dynamics in Billings, Montana." in Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (2013).

External links

• Items related to Billings, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
• Materials related to Billings, various dates (via US Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division).

45.7867°N -108.5372°W

Notes and References

1. Web site: Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company . opencorporates.com . . 18 May 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230320234024/https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_mn/168dbd38-a0d4-e011-a886-001ec94ffe7f . March 20, 2023 . en . 31 March 2023 . live.
2. Web site: US Newspaper Directory . Washington DC . Chronicling America . Library of Congress . April 3, 2013 .
3. Web site: Parmly Billings Library . City of Billings . April 3, 2013.
4. Book: American Library Annual, 1917–1918 . 1918 . 7 v . New York . R.R. Bowker Co. .
5. Web site: Historic Theatre Inventory . Maryland, US . . April 3, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130721130121/http://www.lhat.org/historictheatres/theatre_inventory.aspx . July 21, 2013 .
6. Web site: City of Billings Logan International Airport. City of Billings. https://web.archive.org/web/20010213231122/http://www.flybillings.com/history.html. dead. February 13, 2001.
7. Web site: Yale Oil of South Dakota – Billings Facility . Montana Department of Environmental Quality . April 3, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130328173312/http://deq.mt.gov/StateSuperfund/yaleoilsd.mcpx . March 28, 2013 .
8. Web site: ExxonMobil Billings Refinery . . April 3, 2013.
9. Web site: Billings. Billings Gazette. https://web.archive.org/web/20000817192213/http://www.billingsgazette.com/allaroundbillings/. dead. August 17, 2000.
10. Web site: Small Jet Crashes in Montana . December 19, 1992 . New York Times .
11. Web site: Montana Women's Prison . Montana Department of Corrections . April 3, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130328143114/http://cor.mt.gov/MWP/default.mcpx . March 28, 2013 .
12. Web site: Mayor. City of Billings. https://web.archive.org/web/20000902090853/http://ci.billings.mt.us/government/mayor.php3. dead. September 2, 2000.
13. Web site: Four Dances . https://web.archive.org/web/20070616154437/http://www.blm.gov/mt/st/en/fo/billings_field_office/four_dances.html . dead . June 16, 2007 . . April 3, 2013 .
14. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/19990125085129/http://ci.billings.mt.us/ . Welcome to Billings Montana . 1999-01-25 . .
15. Web site: Billings, Montana . Directory of Religious Centers . Pluralism Project . Harvard University . October 14, 2013.
16. Web site: Magic City Rollers . Billings, MT . April 3, 2013.
17. Web site: Meet the Mayors . . Washington, DC . April 3, 2013 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20080627104834/http://www.usmayors.org/meetmayors/mayorsatglance.asp . June 27, 2008 .
18. Web site: Tornado Tears Through City in Montana . June 20, 2010 . New York Times .
19. Web site: Ruptured Montana Pipeline Was Shut Down Before . July 3, 2011 . New York Times . Exxon Mobil pipeline .
20. Web site: September 27, 2012 . Montana Courthouse Dedicated . November 8, 2024 . United States Courts . en.
21. Web site: Fong . Stella . 2014 . Turning the Page with the New Billings Public Library . November 8, 2024 . Yellowstone Valley Woman . en-US.
22. Web site: Nile . Amy . March 10, 2024 . Native American Development Corporation launches $33M expansion project in Billings . November 8, 2024 . Billings Gazette . en.
23. Web site: Pyburn . Evelyn . February 7, 2023 . Rocky Vista Begins Classes . November 8, 2024 . Big Sky Business Journal . en-US.
24. Web site: June 7, 2024 . Billings celebrates opening of Inner Belt Loop/Skyway Drive connecting Heights and West End . November 9, 2024 . Q2 News . en.
25. News: Conlon . Casey . April 19, 2024 . Billings-Logan Airport completes terminal expansion; will it attract passengers? . Q2 News . Scripps Media . July 6, 2024.