Great Falls, Montana Great Falls, Montana Great Falls, Montana as viewed from Interstate 15, looking due north Great Falls, Montana as viewed from Interstate 15, looking due north Official seal of Great Falls, Montana Location of Great Falls, Montana Location of Great Falls, Montana State Montana Downtown Great Falls Great Falls is a town/city in and the governmental center of county of Cascade County, Montana, United States. The 2015 census estimate put the populace at 59,638. The populace was 58,505 at the 2010 census.
It is the principal town/city of the Great Falls, Montana Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Cascade County and has a populace of 82,278. Great Falls was the biggest city in Montana from 1950 to 1970, when Billings surpassed it.
Great Falls remained the second biggest city in Montana until 2000, when it was passed by Missoula. Since then Great Falls has been the third biggest city in the state. Great Falls takes its name from the series of five waterfalls in close adjacency along the upper Missouri River watershed that the Lewis and Clark Expedition had to portage around over a ten-mile stretch; the accomplishment required 31 days of arduous workforce during the westward leg of their 1805-06 exploration of the Louisiana Purchase and to the Pacific Northwest Coast of the Oregon Country.
Each falls sports a hydroelectric dam today, hence Great Falls is nicknamed "the Electric City".
Currently there are two undeveloped parts of their portage route; these are encompassed inside the Great Falls Portage, a National Historic Landmark.
Russell Museum Complex, the University of Great Falls, Great Falls College Montana State University, Giant Springs, the Roe River (claimed to be the world's shortest river), the Montana School for the Deaf and the Blind, the Great Falls Voyagers minor league baseball (formerly known as the Great Falls White Sox and before that as the Dodgers and Giants in the order given) team, and Malmstrom Air Force Base.
The small-town journal is the Great Falls Tribune.
A Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index listed Great Falls as the most affordable region of 348 markets in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico.
2.2 Communities of the Great Falls Metro region The first human beings to live in the Great Falls region were Paleo-Indians who migrated into the region between 9,500 BCE and 8,270 BCE. The earliest inhabitants of North America entered Montana east of the Continental Divide between the mountain peaks and the Laurentide ice sheet. The region remained only sparsely inhabited, however. Salish Indians would often hunt bison in the region on a cyclic basis, but no permanent settlements existed at or near Great Falls for much of prehistory. Around 1600, Piegan Blackfeet Indians, migrating west, entered the area, pushing the Salish back into the Rocky Mountains and claiming the site now known as Great Falls as their own. The Great Falls locale remained the tribal territory of the Blackfeet until long after the United States claimed the region in 1803. 1891 bird's eye illustration of Great Falls Cattle roundup near Great Falls, c.
Following the return passage of Lewis and Clark in 1806, there is no record of any white person visiting the site of the town/city of Great Falls until explorer and trapper Jim Bridger reached the region in 1822. Bridger and Major Andrew Henry led a fur-trading expedition to the future town/city locale in April 1823 (and were attacked by Blackfeet Indians while camping at the site). British explorer Alexander Ross trapped around Great Falls in 1824. In 1838, a mapping expedition sent by the U.S.
Federal government and guided by Bridger spent four years in the area. Margaret Harkness Woodman became the first white woman to visit the Great Falls region in 1862. The Great Falls of the Missouri River marked the limit of the navigable section of the Missouri River for non-portagable watercraft, and the non-navigability of the falls was noted by the U.S.
Supreme Court in its 2012 ruling against the State of Montana on the question of streambed ownership beneath a several dams situated at the site of the falls. The first steamboat appeared at future site of the town/city in 1859. Politically, the future site of Great Falls passed through various hands in the 19th century.
It was part of the unincorporated frontier until May 30, 1854, when Congress established the Nebraska Territory. Indian attacks on white explorers and pioneer dropped decidedly after Isaac Stevens negotiated the Treaty of Hellgate in 1855, and white settlement in the region began to occur. On March 2, 1861, the site became part of the Dakota Territory. The Great Falls region was incorporated into the Idaho Territory on March 4, 1863, and then into the Montana Territory on May 28, 1864. It became part of the state of Montana upon that territory's admission to statehood on November 8, 1889. Great Falls was established in 1883.
Businessman Paris Gibson visited the Great Falls of the Missouri River in 1880, and was deeply impressed by the possibilities for building a primary industrial town/city near the falls with power provided by hydroelectricity. He returned in 1883 with friend Robert Vaughn and some surveyors and platted a permanent settlement the south side of the river. The city's first citizen, Silas Beachley, appeared later that year. With investments from barns owner James J.
Hill and Helena businessman Charles Arthur Broadwater, homes, a store, and a flour foundry were established in 1884. The Great Falls postal service was established on July 10, 1884, and Paris Gibson was titled the first postmaster. A planing mill, lumber yard, bank, school, and journal were established in 1885. By 1887 the town had 1,200 people, and in October of that year the Great Northern Railway appeared in the city. Great Falls was incorporated on November 28, 1888.
Great Falls quickly became a grow industrialized and supply center and, by the early 1900s, was en route to becoming one of Montana's biggest cities.
The rustic studio of famed Western artist Charles Marion Russell was a prominent attraction, as were the famed "Great Falls of the Missouri", after which the town/city was named.
As the 600 lbs of explosives were set off (which was to problematic a wedge in the base so it would fall almost vertically into a large trench for the rubble) the cracks 'completed themselves' all the way to the ground effectively severing the stack into two-thirds and one-third pieces.
Great Falls prospered further with the opening of a close-by military base in the 1940s, but as rail transit and freight slowed in the later part of the century, outlying farming areas lost population, and with the closure of the smelter and cutbacks at Malmstrom Air Force Base in the 1980s, its populace growth slowed.
The economy of Great Falls has suffered from the diminish of heartland trade in recent years much like other metros/cities in the Great Plains and Midwest.
Map of Montana showing Glacial Lake Great Falls.
Great Falls is positioned near a several waterfalls on the Missouri River.
It lies near the center of Montana on the northern Great Plains.
The town/city of Great Falls lies up on the Great Falls Tectonic Zone, an intracontinental shear zone between two geologic provinces of basement modern of the Archean reconstructionwhich form part of the North American continent. The town/city lies at the southern reach of the Laurentide ice sheet, a vast glacial sheet of ice which veiled much of North America amid the last glacial period.
Approximately 1.5 million years ago, the Missouri River flowed northward into a terminal lake. The Laurentide ice sheet pushed the river southward. Between 15,000 BCE and 11,000 BCE, the Laurentide ice sheet blocked the Missouri River and created Glacial Lake Great Falls. About 13,000 BCE, as the glacier retreated, Glacial Lake Great Falls emptied catastrophically in a glacial lake outburst flood. The current course of the Missouri River essentially marks the southern boundary of the Laurentide ice sheet. The Missouri River flowed eastward around the glacial mass, settling into its present course. As the ice retreated, meltwater from Glacial Lake Great Falls poured through the Highwood Mountains and eroded the mile-long, 500-foot-deep (150 m) Shonkin Sag one of the most famous prehistoric meltwater channels in the world. Great Falls is also situated on a fall line unconformity in the Great Falls Tectonic Zone, as well as up on the Kootenai Formation, a mostly nonmarine sandstone laid down by rivers, glaciers, and lakes in the past. According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 22.26 square miles (57.65 km2), of which, 21.79 square miles (56.44 km2) is territory and 0.47 square miles (1.22 km2) is water. Great Falls has a cold semi-arid climate Koppen climate classification (BSk), with a notable amount of summer rain occurring in the form of thunderstorms.
Winters are very cold, long and often snowy, though periods of chinook winds do cause warm spells and raise the maximum temperature above 50 F or 10 C on an average of fifteen afternoons amid the three-month winter reconstruction - In the absence of such winds, shallow cold snaps are common; there is an average of 20.8 evenings with a low of 0 F ( 17.8 C) or colder and 44 days failing to top freezing.
Summers are hot and dry, with highs reaching 90 F (32.2 C) on nineteen days per year, though the diurnal temperature variation is large and easily exceeds 30 F (16.7 C). Freak early and late summer snowfalls such as a two-day total of 8.3 in (0.21 m) in August 1992 can occur, although the median snow flurry from June to September is zero and on average the window for accumulating (0.1 in or 0.0025 m) snow flurry is October 2 thru May 13. The average first and last freeze dates are September 21 and May 21, in the order given, allowing a burgeoning season of 122 days, although, excepting for July, a freeze has occurred in every month of the year.
Climate data for Great Falls, Montana (Great Falls Int'l), 1981 2010 normals, extremes 1891 present Communities of the Great Falls Metro region The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 88.5% caucasian, 1.1% African American, 5.0% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other competitions, and 3.8% from two or more competitions.
The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 89.96% caucasian, 0.95% African American, 5.09% Native American, 0.86% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other competitions, and 2.45% from two or more competitions.
In the city, the age distribution of the populace shows 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.7% who were 65 years of age or older.
Great Falls is home to Malmstrom Air Force Base and the 341st Missile Wing.
Great Falls International Airport is home to the Montana Air National Guard's 120th Airlift Wing.
Great Falls is also home to the 889th Army Reserve Unit.
Mermaids swimming in the pool of the Sip 'n' Dip lounge in Great Falls Great Falls has a symphony orchestra, established in 1959, which generally offers multiple concert series throughout the year, also sponsoring a Youth Orchestra, the Cascade String Quartet, the Chinook Winds Quintet, other chamber ensembles and an educational outreach program.
Well-known performers brought in to perform with Great Falls Symphony have encompassed Yo-Yo Ma, Itzhak Perlman, Midori, Joshua Bell, James Galway, Christopher Parkening and Evelyn Glennie. The Four Seasons Arena is a multi-purpose indoor sports and exhibition arena positioned in the town/city of Great Falls, Montana, in the United States.
Great Falls Voyagers Baseball Pioneer League Centene Stadium Great Falls Gladiators Football Rocky Mountain Football League Memorial Stadium Great Falls Americans Ice Hockey North American 3 Hockey League Great Falls Ice Plex
Great Falls has a rich baseball history with the Voyagers.
Formerly called the White Sox, Dodgers and Giants, baseball players such as Pedro Martinez, Jose Offerman, and Raul Mondesi have spent time in Great Falls with the team.
In 2007, the Great Falls Explorers basketball team were the CBA National Conference Runner-Up.
Great Falls has been home to the Great Falls Americans Junior A ice hockey team since the 2011 2012 season.
Great Falls is home to the Great Falls Gladiators semi-professional football team.
There are 20 schools inside the Great Falls Public Schools system.
These include two enhance high schools, an alternative high school, two middle schools, and 15 elementary schools. The two enhance high schools are Great Falls High School and Charles M.
Great Falls also is home to many private schools, all of them sponsored by theological organizations.
The Catholic Church sponsors a several schools in the city, including Great Falls Montessori (grades Pre-K to K), Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School (Pre-K to undertaking 8), Holy Spirit Catholic School (Pre-K to undertaking 8), and Great Falls Central Catholic High School (grades 9 to 12).
The Conservative Baptist Association of America sponsors two schools in the city: Heritage Baptist School (K to undertaking 9) and Treasure State Academy (Pre-K to undertaking 12).
The Seventh-day Adventist Church also sponsors two schools: Adventist Christian (grades 1 to 8) and Five Falls Christian Church (grades 1 to 8).
Great Falls is home to three establishments of higher education.
Great Falls College Montana State University is a two-year enhance institution of higher learning.
It was established as the Great Falls Vocational-Technical Center in 1969, and received its current name after the state restructured the two-year elected universities in the state in 2012.
The University of Great Falls a private, four-year Catholic college founded in 1932 by the Sisters of Providence and the Ursuline Sisters.
The Great Falls Tribune is presented in Great Falls.
Great Falls is the second biggest media market in the state of Montana.
Great Falls is served by Great Falls International Airport, with 4 passenger and 5 cargo airlines.
Great Falls Fire Rescue consists of 65 uniformed Firefighters and 3 civilian personnel.
The Great Falls Police Department is the municipal law enforcement agency.
Great Falls in the winter.
Great Falls in the winter.
Senator, former Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court, former Montana state District Court Judge Alma Smith Jacobs, director, Great Falls Public Library; first African American Montana State Librarian Johnson, aviation pioneer, worked at Great Falls airport in 1940s Leonard Mc - Ewan, former member of the Wyoming Supreme Court, born in Great Falls Hugh Mitchell, served in United States Senate from 1945 46 and House of Representatives from 1949-53 for state of Washington. Strouf, Montana and Wisconsin state legislator, lawyer Thrasher, Los Angeles, California, City Council member between 1931 and 1942, born in Great Falls Several motion pictures have been filmed in Great Falls.
The Mariana UFO Incident occurred in August 1950 in Great Falls.
Nicholas "Nick" Mariana, the general manager of the Great Falls "Electrics" minor-league baseball team, and his secretary observed two "bright, silvery spheres" move quickly over the city's empty baseball stadium.
The incident received widespread nationwide publicity and is regarded as one of the first great UFO incidents in the United States.
In 2007, the Great Falls White Sox were retitled as the Great Falls Voyagers to memorialize this event.
Great Falls has one sister city, as designated by Sister Cities International (SCI): Shot in Cascade County and in the town/city of Great Falls, the film's climactic moment features George Kennedy's character driving a car through the chief window of The Paris department store, at the corner of 4th Street and Central Avenue.
Tracy's restaurant and the Great Falls Civic Center can be seen in the same scene. Filming sites encompassed the Great Falls International Airport and the historic F-89 (Aircraft 53-2547) mounted there. A 1913 brick annex to the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art was blown up for one of the film's opening scenes. Filmed both in Cascade County and in the town/city of Great Falls, the town/city scenes include shots of Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character outside of Tracy's restaurant, and Patricia Arquette's character inside the restaurant. The Montana State Fair at the Montana Expo - Park stood in for the Iowa State Fair in the film. Filming occurred inside the Saatz Block building on the corner of 4th Street South and 2nd Avenue South.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Great Falls, Montana.
Great Falls travel guide from Wikivoyage Great Falls, Montana Municipalities and communities of Cascade County, Montana, United States State of Montana
Categories:
Cities in Montana - Cities in Cascade County, Montana - County seats in Montana - Great Falls, Montana - Great Falls Metropolitan Area - Metropolitan areas of Montana - Populated places established in 1883 - Montana populated places on the Missouri River - 1883 establishments in Montana Territory
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