Sixteen, Montana
Encyclopedia
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in southwestern Meagher County
Meagher County, Montana
-National protected areas:*Gallatin National Forest *Helena National Forest *Lewis and Clark National Forest -Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 1,932 people, 803 households, and 529 families residing in the county...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The town was a station stop on the transcontinental main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad
The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...
("the Milwaukee Road"), and was a community center for a small number of area ranchers and homesteaders
Homestead Act
A homestead act is one of three United States federal laws that gave an applicant freehold title to an area called a "homestead" – typically 160 acres of undeveloped federal land west of the Mississippi River....
. The rail line through Sixteen was originally constructed in 1895 by the Montana Railroad
Montana Railroad
The Montana Railroad, now defunct, was an American railroad built and operated between the towns of Lombard and Lewistown, Montana, a distance of approximately 157 miles. The railroad connected with the national railway network via a connection with the Northern Pacific Railway at Lombard...
, and the town served as a base camp for railway construction crews.
The town took its name from Sixteen Mile Creek, which runs through the narrow valley containing the village. Sixteen Mile Canyon, immediately west of the town, was considered a scenic highlight of the Milwaukee Road line. Eagle Nest Tunnel, one of the railroad's better-known engineering features, was located about four miles west of Sixteen.
The Sixteen post office was first opened in 1890, and closed in 1944.http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MT&county=Meagher
The population of Sixteen was never large, and by the late 20th century the town was nearly deserted. The railroad through the area was abandoned in 1980, and Sixteen is now a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
.