Glendive is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Montana, United States, and home to Dawson Community College. Glendive was established by the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, whic ...

when they built the transcontinental railroad across the northern tier of the western United States from Minnesota to the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. The town was the headquarters for the Yellowstone Division that encompassed ; in main line and in branches with the main routes from Mandan, North Dakota, to Billings, Montana, and from Billings to

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. The town of Glendive is an agricultural and ranching hub of eastern Montana sited between the Yellowstone River and the Badlands. Makoshika State Park is located just east of Glendive. The population was 4,873 at the 2020 census.

History

Glendive was established by the

during the building of the railroad line. The settlement mainly consisted of tents and log cabins until a building boom ensued with the arrival of first load of lumber in 1881. The Montana territorial legislature created Dawson County in 1869 but did not name a county seat, instead placing it administratively under Meagher County. In 1881, Glendive citizens petitioned to name it the county seat. In January 2015, Glendive was the site of a major oil spill from a pipeline which also contaminated drinking water.

Geography

The elevation of the city is 2,064 feet (629 m).

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

passes through town with access from exits 215, 224 and 231. Montana Highway 16 begins in West Glendive. The Yellowstone River cuts through town. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Climate

Glendive experiences a semi-arid climate ( Köppen ''BSk'') with long, cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers. Together with Medicine Lake, the town holds the state's all-time-high record of 117 °F (47 °C), which was recorded on July 20, 1893, in Glendive and on July 5, 1937, in Medicine Lake. On June 29, 1961, an F4 tornado struck Glendive, causing between $500,000 and $5 million in damage.

Etymology

Sir George Gore, a wealthy Irish sportsman, named his favorite hunting area "Glendive" in 1855, from the Irish ''gleann'' 'valley' and ''dubh'' 'black'.

Demographics

Glendive was briefly an oil boom town after the discovery of oil in the Williston Basin in the early 1950s. Moving the oil out of the area was difficult and expensive though; the boom ended by 1954 and only a small reserve existed locally. The community has been impacted in the 2000s by the

North Dakota oil boom The North Dakota oil boom refers to the period of rapidly expanding oil extraction from the Bakken Formation in the state of North Dakota that lasted from the discovery of Parshall Oil Field in 2006, and peaked in 2012, but with substantially less g ...

which spurred a modest increase in the population.Muskal, Michael (January 20, 2015
"Water supply off-limits in Montana town after Yellowstone River oil spill"
Los Angeles Times

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 4,935 people, 2,060 households, and 1,190 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 2,267 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.4% White, 0.5% African American, 2.4% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.4% of the population. There were 2,060 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.2% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 12% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.7% were from 25 to 44; 26.5% were from 45 to 64; and 18.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.4% male and 49.6% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,729 people, 1,983 households, and 1,229 families living in the city. The population density was 1,419.0 people per square mile (548.3/km²). There were 2,204 housing units at an average density of 661.4 per square mile (255.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.38% White, 0.30% African American,1.21% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.36% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.02% of the population. There were 1,983 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% were

living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.86. In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,943, and the median income for a family was $40,313. Males had a median income of $30,977 versus $20,132 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,544. About 11.6% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Glendive Public Schools educates students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Dawson County High School's team name is the Red Devils. Glendive is home to Dawson Community College, a 2-year college formed in 1940 to meet the educational needs of eastern Montana. The college offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science degrees as well as certificate programs. Dawson Community College is an open-access college. Glendive Public Library serves the area.

Infrastructure

Dawson Community Airport is five miles northwest of Glendive.

Media

Glendive is the smallest US television market (or

DMA DMA may refer to: Arts * ''DMA'' (magazine), a defunct dance music magazine * Dallas Museum of Art, an art museum in Texas, US * Danish Music Awards, an award show held in Denmark * BT Digital Music Awards, an annual event in the UK * Doctor of M ...

), as identified by Nielsen. The Glendive market has three local radio stations: *

KGLE KGLE (590 AM) is a radio station licensed to serve Glendive, Montana. The station is owned by Friends of Christian Radio, Inc. It airs a Religious radio format including programming from Moody Broadcasting Network. The station was assigned the K ...

AM 590 * KXGN AM 1400 * KDZN FM 96.5 Glendive is the smallest of the 210 designated markets for broadcast television in the United States as designated by Nielsen Media Research, with one station— KXGN channel 5—carrying a CBS affiliation along with state and local news broadcasts for a small potential audience of several thousand people (county population is 9,059). Until September 2009, KXGN also carried selected prime-time NBC programming in its schedule, making it the last "Big 3" affiliate to offer programming from more than one network on a single feed. In late June 2010, KXGN moved their NBC programming to a DT2

digital subchannel In broadcasting, digital subchannels are a method of transmitting more than one independent program stream simultaneously from the same digital radio or television station on the same radio frequency channel. This is done by using data compress ...

, rejoining the network. K13PL channel 13, a translator (low-powered rebroadcaster) of Williston, North Dakota's NBC affiliate KUMV was also available until 2013; KUMV is still carried on area cable systems. The Glendive Ranger-Review is the local paper.

Notable people

Tim M. Babcock Timothy Milford Babcock (October 27, 1919 – April 7, 2015) was an American politician, the 16th Governor of the state of Montana, from 1962 to 1969. Early life Babcock was born in Littlefork, Minnesota, the son of Olive (Rinehart) and ...

, 16th Governor of Montana, grew up on a ranch and later a house in Glendive, graduate of Dawson County High School in Glendive * Kamran Ince, Turkish-American music composer *

Clyde Lamb Clyde William Lamb (March 11, 1913 – July 8, 1966) was an American artist and cartoonist whose gag cartoons were published in leading magazines of the 1940s and 1950s. He also drew a syndicated comic strip during the 1950s and 1960s. Biograph ...

, cartoonist * John Patton, Wyoming state legislator *

Alfred E. Perlman Alfred Edward Perlman (November 22, 1902—April 30, 1983) was a railroad executive, having served as president of the Penn Central Transportation Company and its predecessor, the New York Central Railroad. Early career Perlman graduated from ...

, President, New York Central Railroad, President Western Pacific Railroad *

Mike Person Michael Sean Person (born May 17, 1988) is a former American football Guard (American football), guard. He was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2011 NFL Draft. He played college football at Montana State Bobcats fo ...

, offensive lineman for the San Francisco 49ers * Matt Rosendale, Montana State Auditor, 2018 Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Montana, and U.S. Representative for Montana's at-large congressional district (2020–) * Diana Thomas, mathematician and nutritionist *

Joyce Woodhouse Joyce Woodhouse (born 1944) is an American politician and a former member of the Nevada Senate. She represented the 5th district from 2006 to 2010 and then from 2012 to 2019, when she became unable to run for re-election due to term limits. Ear ...

, Democratic member of the Nevada Senate * Hank Worden, born Norton Earl Worden, cowboy actor * Adam Morrison, NBA Basketball Player

References

External links

*
Glendive Chamber of Commerce

Visit Glendive

Dawson Community College

Dawson Community Airport
{{Authority control Cities in Dawson County, Montana County seats in Montana Cities in Montana