Location & Hours

facebook dark 30   youtube round 30   Instagram

Welcome to the Bonner Milltown History Center
& Museum

A volunteer organization committed to keeping our local area and timber heritage alive for the enjoyment and education of the public.

Welcome to the Bonner Milltown History Center - Montana

The Bonner Milltown History Center and Museum acknowledges that we are in the homelands of the Salish and Kalispel people. We offer our respect for their history and culture, and for their wisdom in caring for this place for the generations to come.

 

Please use the "Search" if you are looking for a specific topic.

Otherwise, browse and enjoy!

Hours:  Tuesday, coffee group meets (everyone welcome) 9 am - noon;  Wednesday, public hours 10am - noon; Friday, Old Roads and Rabbit Holes group meets on 10am - noon

If the above hours aren't convenient, please call 406-540-4046 and leave a message. We will call you back and arrange for a museum visit.

If we are closed, you can take a walk through Bonner's history with this walking tour created for the Bonner School! Bonner Walking Tour PDF

                                                                                   ****** 

Now available online:

Our 2023 Newsletter is now online. December Newsletter 2023 (PDF)

An article from the Montana Quarterly: "Building on the Remains: Missoula entrepreneurs revitalize the polluted Bonner mill site in private-public cooperation" (PDF)

2024 Roundtables: "Bonner History Reflected in the Historical Museum Collection" by Kristjana Eyjolfsson and Matt Lautzenheiser of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula. "Freeing the Blackfoot: Removal of the Bonner Dam and the Cleanup of the River" by Tony Liane. "A Confluence of Cultures in the Bonner Area" with Cheryl Hughes, Kali Zaglauer, Ilona Hangas, Rick and Pat Swanson, and Glenn "Hooligan" Smith.

View all Roundtables

                                                                                    ******

For a look into the past, please watch this 10 minute silent promotional piece Anaconda Copper Mining Company - Bonner Lumber Mill posted on YouTube by the Montana Historical Society.

bridge looking toward Western mill 038 c d acc

Milltown’s “Black Bridge” reaches 100

The new bridge across the Blackfoot river at Milltown is now open to traffic, according to an announcement yesterday by the county commissioners. The old bridge was closed last February and a detour was made necessary. Another bridge several hundred feet north of the present structure was used. …… Read More
Baseball display

A Little Bonner Baseball History

A Little Bonner Baseball History by Kim Briggeman June 7, 2021 Visit the Bonner Milltown History Center and Museum for a trip down memory lane. The baseball uniform and cap of former player and coach Arnold "Ode" Odegaard are two of the portals… Read More
Wisherd Bridge

Red Bridges Over the Blackfoot

The old timers talk about them - and argue about the number of them: 4 or 5 or 6? Where exactly were they located on the Blackfoot? These questions came up at Tuesday morning coffee and the discussion was off. Summer visitor Bill Demmons spearheaded… Read More
the water wheel Bateman Ed Dad and Emil Nelson Dads water wheelat home in river bottom 1937

Willie Bateman - The Water Wheel

Our second summer in the river bottom Dad built a water wheel out of an old wooden spoke car wheel with the axle still attached. This in turn was bolted to a large pine log with U bolts. He put extensions on the spokes made out of two by fours and… Read More
Go to top