Harlowton,
MT : Overview & Guide.gif)
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| Harlowton,
Montana |
Harlowton,
Montana, is located in central Montana, and is the county
seat of Wheatland County. The county itself
only has 5 towns in it. The town of Harlowton (frequently
spelled Harlowtown) itself has a population of around 1100
people, although it used to be
much
larger during the prime agricultural years of the 1920’s.
But, like other eastern and central Montana towns, Harlowton
has suffered from population and economic decline due to
the consolidation of the agricultural industry, the loss
of a railroad, and the lack of a diversified economy.
The
location of Harlowton is actually pretty nice. Three mountain
ranges, the dominating Crazy
Mountains, the Little
Belt Mountains and the Big Snowy Mountains are all nearby.
These mountains provide excellent hunting opportunities for
deer and elk. The Mussellshell
River also flows through town.
This river has been hit quite hard by drought recently and
has only so-so fishing in town, but further upstream the
river can provide for some fine, if somewhat challenging,
brown trout fishing.
Harlowton
is an interesting and historic town. The downtown area
has many empty and partially empty buildings – testament
to the loss of population that has occurred in this region.
Yet, the town has made great efforts to retain its historic
role in the building and operation of the Milwaukee Road
Railroad. As such, anyone who enjoys railroad history should
definitely make a point of visiting this out of the way town
in central Montana.
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| E57-B
Electric Locomotive in Harlowton |
Harlowton
is part of the Milwaukee Road Historic Dictric. As such,
sitting right downtown is a historic E57B Electric
Locomotive that pulled the freight and passengers in this
part of Montana. This locomotive was donated by the Milwaukee
Road when it pulled out of Montana in 1974 (and disappeared
completely a few years later). Additionally, at the other
end of town is the very nicely preserved and restored Harlowton
Train Depot. This depot, as mentioned, has been fully restored – and
has a number of railroad artifacts around it, including an
old switch engine, a railroad snowplow, signal lights and
more.
The
nearest large cities to Harlowton are Billings, Bozeman,
Great
Falls and Helena,
each of which are about 2-3 hours away, depending on weather
conditions. As such, Harlowton
is quite isolated – which explains why the town has
been struggling economically over the past several decades.
Yet, on the other hand, the cost of land and housing in Harlowton
is very affordable. If one can figure out how to make a living
in this part of Montana – the person will be able to
find affordable housing, although some of it does fall in
the “fixer upper” category.
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| Harlowton
Railroad Depot |
During
the summer, Harlowton can receive a fair amount of traffic
of people “passing through” on the
often times busy US Highway 12. If you happen to be passing
through and like western wear, be sure to stop at the gas
station (not sure what it is called) on the junction of Highway
12 and Highway 191 that is located about 2 miles east of
downtown. Inside this gas station is one of the nicest and
authentic western stores you are likely to find – just
be sure to hide your wallet if you like to buy western apparel.
Overall,
Harlowton is a town that has struggled economically but
does seem to be making a come-back as the town attempts
to reach out to retirees and the like. The
town is also rich
in history, especially railroad history. If you have an interest
in railroad history, be sure to take the 40 mile detour north
off of I-90 (get off at Big Timber) and come up to Harlowton.
Additionally, Harlowton makes a great jumping off point
for people heading up into the Crazy Mountains.
As a
side note, I was contacted recently by a nice person from
Harlowton who didn't fully agree with my description of
the town, although he was also nice enough to correct some
inaccuracies
I had about the town too. A section of his email stated:
The economy has greatly improved here over the past
several years, and in fact unemployment is so low now
that there
are many job openings at this time. That coupled with
a low cost of living due to housing affordability and
availability
and low taxes, make Harlowton a very desirable place
to raise a family or retire....
...“many empty and
partially empty buildings”[as dexcribed on this
page] is not accurate as most buildings are in fact
fully occupied
and many
have been
remodeled
I'd
thought I would put this up for anyone who is contemplating
visiting or moving to Harlowton, as admittedly I have not
visited Harlowton since 2003 - and as they say - times change.
And with the real estate boom in the US the past few years,
I've seen housing and some economic development occurring
in the strangest of places in Montana - so I doubt
Harlowton
is
an exception
to this, especially since the town does have quite a nice
location.
However,
as I have not visited Harlowton since this guide was written,
I can not verify how true/untrue the revival in Harlowton
is. As such, I've kept the guide written as it was - as
it represents my views of the town and such when I visited
it. Unlike other travel
sites on the Internet, the travel section of Big
Sky Fishing
is
not
meant to be
a
"promoter"
of a particular town, place
or business. In the end, the travel section of my site
simply represents my thoughts, views, photos and opinions
of a place when I visited it.
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