About this property
Fort Peck is a town in Valley County, Montana, United States. The population was 239 at the 2020 census. The name Fort Peck is associated with Col. Campbell K. Peck, the partner of Elias H. Durfee in the Leavenworth, Kansas trading firm of Durfee and Peck. In 1867, company employee Abe Farwell constructed the Fort Peck trading post along the Missouri River, which enjoyed a virtual monopoly in trade with the Sioux and Assiniboine people. After its short life as a trading post, Fort Peck served as an Indian agency from 1873 until 1878. At that time, the agency was moved to its current location at Poplar. Fort Peck had a post office from 1879 to 1881. A new town of Fort Peck, located approximately two miles north of the original, was built in 1934 to house Army Corps of Engineers employees involved in the construction of the Fort Peck Dam. Designed to be temporary, the government-owned town nevertheless included many features of a permanent town, including an administrative headquarters, a hospital, stores, a theater, a recreation hall, and other facilities. Totally inadequate to house the 10,000-plus employees, Fort Peck was soon joined by numerous shanty towns, including Wheeler, New Deal, Delano Heights, and Park Grove. The Fort Peck Original Houses Historic District, the Fort Peck Theatre, and the hospital, administration building, and other associated public works properties are listed in the National Register. The Administration Building, the Employee's Hotel and Garage, the Garage and Fire Station, the Hospital, and the Recreation Hall of the government-run town are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which oversees the powerhouses, dam, lake, and dredge cuts, is the major employer in Fort Peck, as well as, other government programs. Until recently all of the houses in Fort Peck were government built. Fort Peck draws people from hundreds of miles away to recreate around Fort Peck Reservoir. Most popular is utilizing the lake and dredge cuts for boating, swimming, and fishing. Camping and barbecuing are very popular and facilities for camping and cooking are well developed. Besides the lake, Fort Peck offers several more activities. The Fort Peck Theatre performs plays during the summer and draws large crowds. The Fort Peck Interpretive Center shows the history of the area, from the dinosaurs to the dam. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 0.86 square miles (2.23 km2), all land. As of the census of 2010, there were 233 people, 99 households, and 73 families living in the town. The population density was 270.9 inhabitants per square mile (104.6/km2). There were 110 housing units at an average density of 127.9 per square mile (49.4/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 93.6% White, 3.0% Native American, 0.4% Asian, and 3.0% from two or more races.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was Recreation Hall listed on the National Register?
Recreation Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 12, 1986.
What type of historic resource is Recreation Hall?
Recreation Hall is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Recreation Hall?
The period of significance for Recreation Hall is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near Recreation Hall?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Recreation Hall will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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