{"id":5865,"date":"2023-07-16T19:33:13","date_gmt":"2023-07-16T19:33:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=5865"},"modified":"2026-08-18T00:28:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T00:28:43","slug":"prairie-county-montana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/prairie-county-montana\/","title":{"rendered":"Prairie County, Montana"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Prairie County is a county in Montana, United States, on the Yellowstone River in the eastern part of the state. It had a population of 1,088 at the 2020 census and covers 1,743 square miles (4,510 km2) of which 1,737 square miles are land, centred near 46\u00b051\u2032N 105\u00b022\u2032W.<\/p>\n<p>Terry is the county seat, and its postal code is 59349. The county has one incorporated town, one census-designated place, and several unincorporated communities. Prairie County is in the Mountain Time Zone and carries FIPS code 45.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Prairie County<\/h2>\n<p>Prairie County has one incorporated town (Terry), one census-designated place (Fallon), and a handful of unincorporated communities strung along the old Northern Pacific rail line through the Yellowstone valley. CDP and Unincorp. below follow Census Bureau designations.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Terry<\/td>\n<td>Town &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59349<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Fallon<\/td>\n<td>CDP<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59326<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Mildred<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>59341<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Saugus<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Zero<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Benz<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Blatchford<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Bluffport<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Calypso<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Crow Rock<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>McCloud<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Benz, Blatchford, Bluffport, Calypso, Crow Rock and McCloud are historic rail-siding names from the Northern Pacific era; most no longer have a resident population or their own ZIP code and are served by Terry&#8217;s post office.<\/p>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>59349 &mdash; Terry (also serves most of the county&#8217;s unincorporated rail sidings)<\/li>\n<li>59326 &mdash; Fallon<\/li>\n<li>59341 &mdash; Mildred<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Saugus, Zero and the smaller historic sidings have no ZIP code of their own and are served by Terry.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Prairie County sits in eastern Montana where the Yellowstone River cuts across rolling prairie and badland breaks. The Yellowstone runs roughly east-west through the northern part of the county past Terry and Fallon, and much of the land beyond the river bottoms is open rangeland used for cattle grazing. The county borders <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/mccone-county\/\">McCone County<\/a> to the north, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/dawson-county-montana\/\">Dawson County<\/a> to the northeast, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wibaux-county\/\">Wibaux County<\/a> to the east, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/fallon-county\/\">Fallon County<\/a> to the southeast, <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/custer-county-montana\/\">Custer County<\/a> to the south, and <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/garfield-county-montana\/\">Garfield County<\/a> to the west.<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Prairie County had 1,088 residents at the 2020 census, one of the smallest populations of any Montana county. Terry and Fallon are its two largest communities. Median household income runs well below the Montana median of $70,804 in a county this rural and thinly populated. Population density is about 0.6 people per square mile, among the lowest in the state.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Cattle ranching and dryland wheat farming drive the local economy, with the Yellowstone River bottomlands supporting some irrigated hay ground. Terry serves as the county&#8217;s trade and government center, home to the Prairie County Courthouse and the Prairie County Museum, which houses the Evelyn Cameron photograph collection documenting early-1900s ranch life along the Yellowstone.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Prairie County was established on February 5, 1915, carved from portions of Custer, Dawson, and Fallon counties. The name was chosen in a public contest and describes the open prairie landscape that dominates the county. In June 1938 the county was the site of the Custer Creek train wreck near Saugus, when a Northern Pacific passenger train derailed after a flash flood washed out a bridge, killing 47 people &mdash; one of the deadliest rail disasters in Montana history.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. Route 10\/Interstate 94 runs through Terry, providing the main east-west route across the county along the Yellowstone valley.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Miles City, Montana &mdash; 34 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Glendive, Montana &mdash; 30 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Billings, Montana &mdash; 140 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is Miles City Frank Wiley Field, about 35 miles southwest of Terry.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Prairie County, Montana?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in eastern Montana along the Yellowstone River, between Custer and Dawson counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\n1,088 people at the 2020 census, one of the least-populated counties in Montana.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\n1,743 square miles (4,510 km2), of which 1,737 square miles are land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\nTerry is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\nOne incorporated town (Terry), one census-designated place (Fallon), and several small unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\n59349 (Terry), 59326 (Fallon), and 59341 (Mildred).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Why is it called Prairie County?<\/strong><br \/>\nThe name was chosen in a public naming contest in 1915 and reflects the open prairie landscape that covers most of the county.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/montana\/\">Towns and villages in Montana<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prairie County is a county in Montana, United States, on the Yellowstone River in the eastern part of the state. It had a population of 1,088 at the 2020 census and covers 1,743 square miles (4,510 km2) of which 1,737 square miles are land, centred near 46\u00b051\u2032N 105\u00b022\u2032W. Terry is the county seat, and its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Prairie County, Montana","_seopress_titles_desc":"Prairie County, Montana: population, Terry the county seat, ZIP codes, towns, geography and history along the Yellowstone River.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-montana","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5865"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10451,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5865\/revisions\/10451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}