Stillwater County is a county in Montana, United States, along the Interstate 90 corridor between Billings and Bozeman. It had a population of 8,963 at the 2020 census and covers 1,805 square miles (4,670 km2) of land and water, centred near 45\u00b040\u2032N 109\u00b023\u2032W.<\/p>\n
Columbus is the county seat, and its postal code is 59019. The county has one incorporated town, six census-designated places and several unincorporated communities and ghost towns, sits in the Mountain time zone, and carries FIPS code 30095.<\/p>\n
Stillwater County has one incorporated town, Columbus, plus six census-designated places recognized by the Census Bureau and a handful of unincorporated communities and ghost towns along the Stillwater and Yellowstone river valleys. The table below lists Type as City (incorporated), CDP (census-designated place, unincorporated) or Unincorp. (unincorporated community or ghost town, not separately counted by the census).<\/p>\n
| Place<\/th>\n | Type<\/th>\n | Pop.<\/th>\n | ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n |
|---|---|---|---|
| Columbus<\/td>\n | City · seat<\/td>\n | 1,997<\/td>\n | 59019<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Absarokee<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 1,215<\/td>\n | 59001<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Park City<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 1,181<\/td>\n | 59063<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Reed Point<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 216<\/td>\n | 59069<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Fishtail<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 468<\/td>\n | 59028<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Rapelje<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | 90<\/td>\n | 59067<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Nye<\/td>\n | CDP<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | 59061<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Molt<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Dean<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Beehive<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Limestone<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n |
| Springtime<\/td>\n | Unincorp.<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n | —<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n Fishtail sits closer to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness than to Columbus, and locals sometimes confuse it with the CDP of the same name that briefly doubled up on older maps — there is only one Fishtail, on the West Rosebud Road southwest of Absarokee.<\/p>\n ZIP Codes<\/h2>\nMolt, Dean, Beehive and Limestone have no post office of their own and use the ZIP of the nearest town on this list.<\/p>\n Geography<\/h2>\nStillwater County stretches from the Yellowstone River valley in the north up into the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains in the south, where the Stillwater River, for which the county is named, drains toward the Yellowstone. The terrain runs from open ranchland and irrigated hay ground along the river bottoms to forested foothills and alpine peaks near the Wyoming line. Interstate 90 and the Yellowstone River both cross the northern part of the county through Columbus, Park City and Reed Point.<\/p>\n Stillwater County borders Golden Valley County to the north, Yellowstone County to the east, Carbon County to the south, Park County to the southwest and Sweet Grass County to the west.<\/p>\n Demographics<\/h2>\nThe 2020 census counted 8,963 residents, making Stillwater one of Montana’s mid-sized rural counties. Columbus and Absarokee are the two largest communities. Median household income runs below the Montana median of $70,804, typical of the ranching and mining counties along this stretch of the Yellowstone. Population density is roughly 5 people per square mile, reflecting the county’s large ranch and forest acreage.<\/p>\n Economy & Local Life<\/h2>\nAgriculture — cattle ranching and irrigated hay and grain along the Yellowstone and Stillwater valleys — has anchored the county’s economy since settlement. The Stillwater Mining Company (now Sibanye-Stillwater) operates the Stillwater and East Boulder platinum-palladium mines near Nye and Absarokee, among the largest employers in the county and the only primary palladium mine in the United States. Columbus serves as the retail and government hub, and tourism tied to fishing on the Stillwater and Yellowstone rivers and access to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness supports outfitters and small businesses in Absarokee and Fishtail.<\/p>\n History<\/h2>\nStillwater County was organized in 1913, carved from Sweet Grass and Carbon counties, and named for the Stillwater River, itself named by early trappers for its calm stretches compared to the rougher Yellowstone. Columbus, originally a station on the Northern Pacific Railway, became the county seat. The Stillwater mining district near Nye, worked intermittently since the early 1900s, grew into a major operation only after platinum-group-metal mining resumed there in the 1980s.<\/p>\n Getting There<\/h2>\nInterstate 90 runs the length of the county’s northern edge, linking Columbus to Billings roughly 40 miles east and Big Timber roughly 30 miles west. Montana Highway 78 runs south from Columbus through Absarokee toward Red Lodge.<\/p>\n
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