A generation after its first settlement in 1913-1914, over 500 people lived in Flaxville, a Great Northern spur line town in Daniels County. When I visited in 1984, I found a declining railroad town, very common in the region, but I also liked how an old one-story brick bank still served the town’s 142 residents as a post office. Adaptive reuse at its best.
Almost 30 years later the post office remained but one-half of the residents had gone. The census taker in 2010 counted 71 people in Flaxville. Despite the disappearing numbers, Flaxville has many worthy landmarks beyond the historic bank. Let’s start with the R-Y Bar, one of the few reminders in all of Montana of a historic trail that once connected Regina, Saskatchewan, to Miles City, far to the south.
Then there is the Flaxville school, actually a marvel of contemporary design that you would never expect to find in such an out-of-the-way place. Once again we find Montana modernism is not just in the cities.
The Barn, once a movie theater now a community theater and center, is a true rarity–a vernacular design for a popular culture purpose that seems almost crazily out of place. Its size speaks to time when whole towns gathered in one place for the movies. Its empty marquee today records a much more unpleasant truth: the
reality of what happens when everyone begins to leave: the lights do go out. Yet the remaining local Catholic and Lutheran churches also speak loudly, to the quiet determination of those who remain here in Daniels County.
Naturally the grain elevators remain as sentinels overlooking Flaxville but few other commercial enterprises are open. The starkness of the town’s cemetery records both the past and future of this tiny place in Montana’s northern plains.
Montana's Historic Landscapes
35 Years in the Big Sky Country
Montana's Historic Landscapes 
Thanks to all for preserving this history.
Funny, but I remember the colorful Christmas lights strung across the street lying down on the backseat of the family car when we were in Flaxville.
My family is from Flaxville and I’m proud to say so. Have been there many times in my life and have such great memories. My relatives still live there and own the house my father and his siblings grew up in, besides others. Those who have passed are buried in that cemetery. Can’t wait to go back to this wonderful place, it’s my place in time where history lives.
Hi Lynn, I have been researching Flaxville for a while, hoping to gain some information about a family member who lived there until the 1950s. His name is Theodore Carlsen and he ran a “saloon” where Faro was played. According to his death certificate, he is buried in the Flaxville Cemetery. I know this is a reach, but I thought I might mention it since your family calls Flaxville home. All the best, Marge Laskowski
Hi Lynn, I have been researching Flaxville for a while, hoping to gain some information about a family member who lived there until the 1950s. His name is Theodore Carlsen and he ran a “saloon” where Faro was played. According to his death certificate, he is buried in the Flaxville Cemetery. I know this is a reach, but I thought I might mention it since your family calls Flaxville home. All the best, Marge Laskowski
Hello my name is Jacqueline Myers and just recently found out that my cousin lives in this majestic part of the U.S. I am so jealous. Reading your information on this little jewel of small city in Montana fascinates me…My cousin has been part of the community for awhile but I just found this out about 2yrs ago. His name is Lawrence Rhone and we are so proud of what he is doing for veterans in that area. I am looking forward to visiting soon. I pray that the Lord will Bless Flaxville with blessings that have not even imagined because that is the kind of Lord He is. God Bless JM