DescriptionMartin City, established on the homestead of Gaspard Martin near Abbott Creek, owes its existence to the early 1950s construction of the Hungry Horse Dam on the South Fork of the Flathead River. While the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation worked the appropriations bill for the dam through Congress in 1947, Martin City’s population swelled in anticipation of the coming boom. Montana author Joseph Kinsey Howard remarked: “On and around the dam site a group of ‘boomtowns’ living solely on beer and hope have sprung up.” He marveled at the cocksure attitude of Martin City, which, when less than a year old, planned a Pioneer Days to honor its old-timers. Martin City lives on as a tourist town, on the road from Columbia Falls to Glacier National Park. Personal NamesMartin, GaspardHoward, Joseph KinseyContributing InstitutionGeolocation[1] Elevation3208 ft.CountyFlathead County
