Musselshell County, Montana

Musselshell County
County
The Musselshell County Courthouse in Roundup
Location within the U.S. state of Montana
Montana's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 46°29′N108°24′W / 46.49°N 108.4°W / 46.49; -108.4
Country	United States
State	Montana
Founded	February 2, 1911 [1]
Seat	Roundup
Largest city	Roundup
Area [2]
• Total	1,871 sq mi (4,850 km2)
• Land	1,868 sq mi (4,840 km2)
• Water	2.8 sq mi (7 km2)  0.1%
Population  (2020)
• Total	4,730
• Estimate  (2022)	5,197
• Density	2.5/sq mi (0.98/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	2nd
Website	musselshellcounty.org
Montana county number 23

Musselshell County is a county in south-central Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 4,730. ^[3] Its county seat is Roundup. ^[4]

History

Musselshell County was created in 1911 by Montana Governor Edwin L. Norris. The area was taken from Fergus, from Yellowstone, and Meagher counties. It was named for the Musselshell River which runs southwest–northeast through the county. That river had been thus named in 1805 by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, due to the abundance of freshwater mussels found along its banks. In 1915, a western portion of the county was partitioned off to form Golden Valley County, giving Musselshell County its present boundaries.

The county's northwestern area is rolling grasslands, which slope southeastward to the Musselshell River and the forested Bull Mountains in the southeast. The county has abundant natural resources of coal deposits, subterranean oil, and timbered slopes. ^[1]

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,863.91 square miles (4,827.5 km²), of which 1,861.16 square miles (4,820.4 km²) is land and 2.75 square miles (7.1 km²) (0.1%) is water. ^[5]

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 12
• U.S. Highway 87

Adjacent counties

• Fergus County - northwest
• Petroleum County - north
• Rosebud County - east
• Yellowstone County - south
• Golden Valley County - west

National protected area

• Lake Mason National Wildlife Refuge

Politics

In the fourteen national elections after its organization, Musselshell County voters selected Republican presidential candidates 50% of the time, and Democratic candidates 50% of the time. However, since the 1968 election, the Republican candidate has been selected in every election.

United States presidential election results for Musselshell County, Montana ^{[6] [7]}

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	2,423	84.10%	413	14.34%	45	1.56%
2016	1,967	80.58%	332	13.60%	142	5.82%
2012	1,833	76.15%	492	20.44%	82	3.41%
2008	1,581	68.56%	636	27.58%	89	3.86%
2004	1,663	74.01%	538	23.94%	46	2.05%
2000	1,582	71.68%	512	23.20%	113	5.12%
1996	1,121	54.00%	652	31.41%	303	14.60%
1992	876	39.32%	648	29.08%	704	31.60%
1988	1,280	58.08%	898	40.74%	26	1.18%
1984	1,541	65.32%	781	33.11%	37	1.57%
1980	1,279	58.03%	784	35.57%	141	6.40%
1976	1,117	54.09%	922	44.65%	26	1.26%
1972	1,202	61.11%	689	35.03%	76	3.86%
1968	953	51.15%	795	42.67%	115	6.17%
1964	823	40.90%	1,189	59.10%	0	0.00%
1960	1,107	50.09%	1,100	49.77%	3	0.14%
1956	1,165	51.10%	1,115	48.90%	0	0.00%
1952	1,253	50.08%	1,240	49.56%	9	0.36%
1948	1,010	40.46%	1,188	47.60%	298	11.94%
1944	1,004	42.27%	1,342	56.51%	29	1.22%
1940	1,086	36.79%	1,807	61.21%	59	2.00%
1936	771	25.58%	2,092	69.41%	151	5.01%
1932	1,021	35.95%	1,584	55.77%	235	8.27%
1928	1,608	50.55%	1,444	45.39%	129	4.06%
1924	1,488	45.55%	247	7.56%	1,532	46.89%
1920	1,910	59.22%	951	29.49%	364	11.29%
1916	1,738	42.92%	2,036	50.28%	275	6.79%
1912	483	30.80%	470	29.97%	615	39.22%

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1920	12,030		—
1930	7,242		−39.8%
1940	5,717		−21.1%
1950	5,408		−5.4%
1960	4,888		−9.6%
1970	3,734		−23.6%
1980	4,428		18.6%
1990	4,106		−7.3%
2000	4,497		9.5%
2010	4,538		0.9%
2020	4,730		4.2%
2022 (est.)	5,197	[8]	9.9%
U.S. Decennial Census [9] 1790-1960 [10] 1900-1990 [11] 1990-2000 [12] 2010-2020 [3]

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 4,730 people.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,538 people, 2,046 households, and 1,276 families in the county. The population density was 2.4 inhabitants per square mile (0.93/km²). There were 2,654 housing units at an average density of 1.4 per square mile (0.54/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.1% white, 1.3% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.6% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 28.1% were German, 16.5% were English, 16.1% were Irish, 7.6% were Norwegian, and 7.0% were American.

Of the 2,046 households, 23.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.6% were non-families, and 33.5% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.78. The median age was 49.1 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $37,033 and the median income for a family was $47,860. Males had a median income of $33,182 versus $25,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $20,875. About 14.1% of families and 17.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 28.6% of those under age 18 and 9.6% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

City

• Roundup (county seat)

Town

• Melstone

Unincorporated communities

• Delphia ^[13]
• Elso ^[14]
• Klein
• Queens Point ^[15]

Census-designated places

• Camp Three
• Flat Willow Colony
• Kilby Butte Colony
• Klein
• Musselshell

See also

• List of lakes in Musselshell County, Montana
• List of mountains in Musselshell County, Montana
• National Register of Historic Places listings in Musselshell County, Montana

References

1. About Musselshell County
2. The NaCo site lists county area as 1,871 sq. miles; the Census Bureau site lists 1,867.15; the Musselshell County website shows 1,965.
3. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 8, 2023.
4. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on December 5, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2019.
6. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 3, 2018.
7. The leading "other" candidate, Progressive Theodore Roosevelt, received 400 votes, while Socialist candidate Eugene Debs received 215 votes.
8. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2022" . Retrieved May 8, 2023.
9. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
10. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
11. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
12. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). US Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2014.
13. Delphia MT Google Maps (accessed January 4, 2019)
14. Elso, MT Google Maps (accessed January 4, 2019)
15. Queens Point MT Google Maps (accessed January 4, 2019)

External links

• Musselshell County website

Coordinates: 46°29′N108°24′W / 46.49°N 108.40°W / 46.49; -108.40