Silver Bow County, Montana

Silver Bow County is a county in Montana, United States, in the southwestern part of the state, anchored by the historic mining city of Butte. It had a population of 35,133 at the 2020 census and covers 719 square miles (1,860 km2) — the smallest of Montana’s 56 counties by land area — centred near 45°54′N 112°40′W.

Butte is the county seat and its postal code is 59701. Since 1977 the city and county have operated as a single consolidated government, Butte-Silver Bow, so there is no separate county courthouse town. The county holds one town (Walkerville) and a cluster of unincorporated former mining camps and neighborhoods folded into the consolidated city. It sits in the Mountain time zone; its FIPS code is 30-093.

Towns & Villages in Silver Bow County

Because Butte and Silver Bow County merged into one government in 1977, almost every place below is a neighborhood or unincorporated community inside the consolidated city-county rather than a separately governed municipality. Walkerville is the one exception — it stayed a separate incorporated town and is entirely surrounded by Butte. CDP = Census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no separate census count.

Centerville, Meaderville, McQueen, East Butte, Finlen and Pioneer are old mining-era neighborhoods absorbed into Butte itself, not standalone places with their own boundaries — Meaderville in particular was largely relocated when the Berkeley Pit expanded in the 1950s–60s. Columbia Gardens was once a trolley-park amusement ground east of downtown, also lost to pit expansion; the name now marks the general area. Fairmont Hot Springs, Divide and Melrose lie strung along the Big Hole River valley in the county’s rural southwest.

ZIP Codes

• 59701 — Butte (also serves Walkerville, Centerville, Meaderville, McQueen, East Butte, Finlen, Pioneer, Columbia Gardens and Rocker)
• 59702, 59703, 59707 — additional Butte post office and PO-box ZIPs
• 59711 — Fairmont Hot Springs
• 59727 — Divide
• 59743 — Melrose
• 59748 — Ramsay
• 59750 — Silver Bow

Most of the small rural communities share Butte’s 597xx prefix and route mail through the Butte post office if they lack their own office.

Geography

Silver Bow County sits in the Rocky Mountain valleys of southwestern Montana, straddling the Continental Divide. The land is a mix of forested mountain slopes — the Highland Mountains rise in the south — and the broad, historically mined Summit Valley around Butte. The Silver Bow Creek, headwaters of the Clark Fork River, runs through the valley and was for decades one of the most heavily contaminated waterways in the country from a century of mining and smelting; it is now the centerpiece of one of the nation’s largest Superfund cleanups. The county has almost no natural lakes but several reservoirs serve the Big Hole River drainage in its southwest corner.

Silver Bow County borders Deer Lodge County to the north, Jefferson County to the east, Madison County to the southeast, Beaverhead County to the south, and Powell County to the northwest.

Demographics

The 2020 census counted 35,133 residents, the great majority in Butte itself (34,494), with Walkerville the only other incorporated community (639). Median household income runs well below the Montana median of $70,804 — Butte-Silver Bow’s mining-era economy left it among the state’s lower-income urban counties, though costs of living are correspondingly modest. Population density is about 49 people per square mile, low for a county built around a small city, since so much of the land is undeveloped mountain and reclaimed mine ground.

Economy & Local Life

Copper, silver, and other hard-rock mining built Butte into one of the richest cities in the American West for nearly a century, and mining still continues on a smaller scale today. The modern economy has diversified into healthcare — St. James Healthcare runs southwest Montana’s only major trauma center — education, energy, and tourism tied to the county’s mining heritage. Montana Technological University, a public engineering and science school, anchors Butte’s uptown historic district. Annual events include Evel Knievel Days (named for the Butte-born daredevil, held the last weekend of July), the Montana Folk Festival in mid-July, and one of the country’s largest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, a tradition dating to the county’s heavy Irish mining-immigrant heritage.

History

Butte grew from a mining camp founded in 1864, and Silver Bow County was organized in 1881 as Montana Territory’s mining wealth exploded around it — the name comes from Silver Bow Creek, itself named for a curve of the stream that early prospectors thought resembled a silver bow. Between roughly 1880 and 2005 Butte’s mines produced more than 9.6 million metric tons of copper along with vast quantities of silver, zinc, and manganese, earning it the nickname “The Richest Hill on Earth.” The county’s worst disaster came in 1917, when a cable fire in the Speculator Mine killed 168 men, still the deadliest hard-rock mining accident in U.S. history. In 1977 the city of Butte and Silver Bow County merged into a single consolidated government, Butte-Silver Bow, one of the first city-county consolidations of its kind in Montana.

Getting There

Interstate 90 crosses the county east–west and Interstate 15 north–south, meeting at Butte; Montana Highways 2, 41, 43 and 55 branch off to the county’s smaller communities.

• Helena — 65 miles north via I-15
• Bozeman — 85 miles east via I-90
• Missoula — 120 miles northwest via I-90
• Dillon — 60 miles south via I-15

Bert Mooney Airport in Butte offers commercial service; it is the nearest airport for the whole county.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Silver Bow County?
It is in southwestern Montana, straddling the Continental Divide around the city of Butte, roughly 65 miles south of Helena.

What is the population of Silver Bow County?
35,133 people at the 2020 census, most of them in Butte.

How big is Silver Bow County?
719 square miles (1,860 km2) — Montana’s smallest county by land area.

What is the county seat of Silver Bow County?
Butte, which has operated as a single consolidated city-county government, Butte-Silver Bow, since 1977.

How many towns are in Silver Bow County?
One separately incorporated town, Walkerville, plus Butte itself and a number of unincorporated communities and former mining neighborhoods.

What ZIP codes are in Silver Bow County?
Mainly 59701 for Butte and Walkerville, with smaller communities using 59711, 59727, 59743, 59748 and 59750.

Why is Butte called “The Richest Hill on Earth”?
Because between the 1880s and 2005 its mines produced more than 9.6 million metric tons of copper plus large amounts of silver, zinc and manganese, making it one of the most productive mining districts in American history.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Montana.