Timeline of Billings, Montana

Last updated January 09, 2026

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Billings, Montana, USA.

Prior to 20th century

1877 – Homesteaders arrive.^[1]
1882
- March 24: Incorporation date of the Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company.^[2]
- First church established.
- Billings Depot built.
- Billings Herald newspaper begins publication.^[3]
- Billings Cemetery established.
1883
- Coulson-Billings street railway begins operating.^[4]
- Billings Fire Brigade organized.
1885 – Billings Daily Gazette newspaper begins publication.
1889 – Town becomes part of new State of Montana.
1891 – The Weekly Times newspaper begins publication.^[3]

20th century

1901 – Public Library established.^[5]^[6]
1902 – Billings and Northern Railroad in operation.^{[ citation needed ]}
1903 – Moss Mansion (residence) built.
1904
- Northern Hotel in business.
- BBWA Canal tunnel dug through the Rimrocks.
1906 – Babcock Theater built.^[7]
1908 – Billings Polytechnic founded.
1910
- Masonic Temple (Billings, Montana) built.
- Population: 10,031.
1912 – Billings and Central Montana Railway in operation.^{[ citation needed ]}
1917 – Cereal Food Processor Building constructed.^{[ citation needed ]}
1927 – Eastern Montana Normal School founded.
1928 – Billings Municipal Airport begins operating.^[8]
1929 – Yale Oil refinery begins operating.^[9]
1931 – Fox Theater opens.
1932 – Cobb Field baseball park opens.
1935 – Intermountain Union College relocated to Billings (approximate date).^{[ citation needed ]}
1937 – Pictograph Cave excavation begins near city.
1940 – Billings Senior High School opens.
1944 – St. Patrick's High School established.
1947
- Rocky Mountain College established.
- Carter Oil Company refinery built near Billings.^[10]
1948 – Billings Mustangs baseball team formed.
1950
- Billings Symphony Orchestra founded.
- Shrine Auditorium built.^{[ citation needed ]}
- Population: 31,834.
1953 – Billings Studio Theater company founded.
1957 – Yellowstone County Courthouse built.
1958 – June 2: Tornado.
1959 – Billings West High School established.
1962 – Kampgrounds of America headquartered in Billings.
1964 – Yellowstone Art Center opens.
1969 – Billings Vocational-Technical Education Center (BVTC) opens.
1971 – Western Heritage Center opens.
1974 – Sage Tower built.
1975
- Montana Entertainment Trade and Recreation Arena opens.
- Granite Tower built.
- Rimrock Mall in business.
1977 – Norwest Bank built.
1980
- Sheraton Hotel built.
- City covered in ash from 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
- Population: 66,798.
1982 – Rocky Plaza condos built.
1985 – First Interstate Center built.
1986 – Flag of Billings, Montana design adopted.
1987 – Skyview High School established.
1988 – City filled with smoke from Yellowstone fires of 1988.
1990 – Population: 81,151.^[11]
1992 – December 18: Airplane crash.^[12]
1993
- Billings Bulls ice hockey team formed.
- Community members protest antisemitism, launching the Not In Our Town movement.
1994
- Montana Women's Prison in operation.^[13]
- Eastern Montana College and the Vocational-Technical Education Center become Montana State University Billings.
1995 – ZooMontana opens.
1996 – Charles Tooley becomes mayor.^[14]
1999
- Four Dances Natural Area acquired by US Bureau of Land Management.^[15]
- City website online.^[16]
- Mormon Temple dedicated.

21st century

2000 – Population: 89,847.
2002 – Skypoint awning/sculpture installed.^[17]
2007 – Billings Dharma Center dedicated.^[18]
2008 – Dehler Park (stadium) opens.
2009
- Magic City Rollers roller derby league formed.^[19]
- Tom Hanel becomes mayor.^[20]
2010
- June 20: 2010 Billings tornado.^[21]
- Population: 104,170.
2011 – July: Oil pipeline bursts near city.^[22]
2012
- New federal courthouse built.^[23]
- Northern Hotel reopens.
2014 – New public library built.^[24]
2017 – Bill Cole becomes mayor.
2020 – Population: 117,116.
2022 – Shrine Auditorium reopens as the Eagle Seeker Community Center.^[25]
2023 – Rocky Vista University campus opens.^[26]
2024
- Inner Belt Loop (Skyway Drive) completed.^[27]
- Billings Logan International Airport terminal expanded.^[28]
2025 – Billings City Hall moved to former federal building.
2026 – Mike Nelson becomes mayor.

References

↑ Wishart 2004.
↑ "Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company". opencorporates.com. OpenCorporates. March 31, 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
1 2 "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ Campbell 1915.
↑ "Parmly Billings Library". City of Billings. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ American Library Annual, 1917–1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918. pp. 7 v.
↑ "Historic Theatre Inventory". Maryland, US: League of Historic American Theatres. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "City of Billings Logan International Airport". City of Billings. Archived from the original on February 13, 2001.
↑ "Yale Oil of South Dakota – Billings Facility". Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "ExxonMobil Billings Refinery" (PDF). ExxonMobil . Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "Billings". Billings Gazette. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000.
↑ "Small Jet Crashes in Montana". New York Times. December 19, 1992.
↑ "Montana Women's Prison". Montana Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "Mayor". City of Billings. Archived from the original on September 2, 2000.
↑ "Four Dances". United States Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on June 16, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "Welcome to Billings Montana". Archived from the original on January 25, 1999 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.
↑ Ednor Therriault (2010), Montana Curiosities, Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press
↑ Pluralism Project. "Billings, Montana". Directory of Religious Centers. Harvard University. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
↑ "Magic City Rollers". Billings, MT. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "Meet the Mayors". Washington, DC: United States Conference of Mayors. Archived from the original on June 27, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2013.
↑ "Tornado Tears Through City in Montana". New York Times. June 20, 2010.
↑ "Ruptured Montana Pipeline Was Shut Down Before". New York Times. July 3, 2011. Exxon Mobil pipeline
↑ "Montana Courthouse Dedicated". United States Courts. September 27, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
↑ Fong, Stella (2014). "Turning the Page with the New Billings Public Library". Yellowstone Valley Woman. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
↑ Nile, Amy (March 10, 2024). "Native American Development Corporation launches $33M expansion project in Billings". Billings Gazette. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
↑ Pyburn, Evelyn (February 7, 2023). "Rocky Vista Begins Classes". Big Sky Business Journal. Retrieved November 8, 2024.
↑ "Billings celebrates opening of Inner Belt Loop/Skyway Drive connecting Heights and West End". Q2 News. June 7, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.
↑ Conlon, Casey (April 19, 2024). "Billings-Logan Airport completes terminal expansion; will it attract passengers?". Q2 News. Scripps Media. Retrieved July 6, 2024.

Bibliography

"(Billings)", Official Northern Pacific Railway Guide, St. Paul, Minn.: W.C. Riley, 1899
"Billings, Montana". National Magazine. Boston. November 1905.
Marius R. Campbell (1915), "Billings", Guidebook of the Western United States: Northern Pacific Route, U.S. Government Printing Office
Federal Writers' Project (1939). "Billings". Montana: a State Guide Book. American Guide Series. NY: Viking Press. hdl:2027/mdp.39015005748036.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link) + Chronology

Kliewer, Waldo O. "The Foundations of Billings, Montana." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 31.3 (1940): 255–283. online
Van West, Carroll. Capitalism on the frontier: Billings and the Yellowstone Valley in the nineteenth century (U of Nebraska Press, 1993) online.
George Thomas Kurian (1994), "Billings, Montana", World Encyclopedia of Cities, vol. 1: North America, Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, OL 1431653M (fulltext via Open Library)
David J. Wishart, ed. (2004). "Cities and Towns: Billings, Montana". Encyclopedia of the Great Plains. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-4787-7.
Hardt, Mark D. "The Emergence of a Competitive Core: Bifurcation Dynamics in Billings, Montana." in Downtowns: Revitalizing the Centers of Small Urban Communities (2013).

External links

Items related to Billings, various dates (via Digital Public Library of America).
Materials related to Billings, various dates (via US Library of Congress, Prints & Photos Division).

45°47′12″N108°32′14″W / 45.786667°N 108.537222°W / 45.786667; -108.537222

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[FOOTNOTEWishart2004-1] Wishart 2004.

[2] "Minnesota and Montana Land and Improvement Company". opencorporates.com. OpenCorporates. March 31, 2023. Archived from the original on March 20, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.

[LOC-3] 1 2 "US Newspaper Directory". Chronicling America. Washington DC: Library of Congress. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[FOOTNOTECampbell1915-4] Campbell 1915.

[5] "Parmly Billings Library". City of Billings. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[6] American Library Annual, 1917–1918. New York: R.R. Bowker Co. 1918. pp. 7 v.

[LHAT-7] "Historic Theatre Inventory". Maryland, US: League of Historic American Theatres. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[8] "City of Billings Logan International Airport". City of Billings. Archived from the original on February 13, 2001.

[9] "Yale Oil of South Dakota – Billings Facility". Montana Department of Environmental Quality. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[10] "ExxonMobil Billings Refinery" (PDF). ExxonMobil . Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[11] "Billings". Billings Gazette. Archived from the original on August 17, 2000.

[12] "Small Jet Crashes in Montana". New York Times. December 19, 1992.

[13] "Montana Women's Prison". Montana Department of Corrections. Archived from the original on March 28, 2013. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[14] "Mayor". City of Billings. Archived from the original on September 2, 2000.

[15] "Four Dances". United States Department of the Interior. Archived from the original on June 16, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[16] "Welcome to Billings Montana". Archived from the original on January 25, 1999 – via Internet Archive, Wayback Machine.

[17] Ednor Therriault (2010), Montana Curiosities, Guilford, Conn.: Globe Pequot Press

[pluralism-18] Pluralism Project. "Billings, Montana". Directory of Religious Centers. Harvard University. Retrieved October 14, 2013.

[19] "Magic City Rollers". Billings, MT. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[20] "Meet the Mayors". Washington, DC: United States Conference of Mayors. Archived from the original on June 27, 2008. Retrieved April 3, 2013.

[21] "Tornado Tears Through City in Montana". New York Times. June 20, 2010.

[22] "Ruptured Montana Pipeline Was Shut Down Before". New York Times. July 3, 2011. Exxon Mobil pipeline

[23] "Montana Courthouse Dedicated". United States Courts. September 27, 2012. Retrieved November 8, 2024.

[24] Fong, Stella (2014). "Turning the Page with the New Billings Public Library". Yellowstone Valley Woman. Retrieved November 8, 2024.

[25] Nile, Amy (March 10, 2024). "Native American Development Corporation launches $33M expansion project in Billings". Billings Gazette. Retrieved November 8, 2024.

[26] Pyburn, Evelyn (February 7, 2023). "Rocky Vista Begins Classes". Big Sky Business Journal. Retrieved November 8, 2024.

[27] "Billings celebrates opening of Inner Belt Loop/Skyway Drive connecting Heights and West End". Q2 News. June 7, 2024. Retrieved November 9, 2024.

[28] Conlon, Casey (April 19, 2024). "Billings-Logan Airport completes terminal expansion; will it attract passengers?". Q2 News. Scripps Media. Retrieved July 6, 2024.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]