History
Located 20 miles north of Big Timber, Melville was established in 1877 as a village named after Colonel Melville, the arctic explorer. A post office first went into operation in Melville in 1883, and the first Lutheran congregation in Montana was established there in 1885. Until a church was built in 1914, all services were held in the schoolhouse. Melville is a ranching community, originally settled by Norwegians. It became regional a meeting place for Saturday night dances, horse races, and gambling. This resulted in the town quickly gaining a reputation for being particularly rough and tumble.
At its height, Melville had a flourmill, a cheese factory, a hotel, at least four saloons, two stores and a drug store. The railroad in Big Timber made such luxuries as dried fruits and green coffee available.
Melville is situated along the Sweetgrass River. The town provides supplies for the sheep camps in the Crazy Mountains and is the headquarters of the Cremer Stock Ranch, which is renown for providing stock for western rodeos.
Read more about this topic: Melville, Montana
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