Lombard is a

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...

in southeastern

Broadwater County Broadwater County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 6,774. Its county seat is Townsend, Montana, Townsend. The county was named for Charles Arth ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, United States. The town was located on the east bank of the Missouri River, just north of the mouth of Sixteen Mile Creek. Lombard was established in 1895 as the western terminus of the

Montana Railroad The Montana Railroad 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 North ...

, and the location of its interchange with 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 ...

. In 1908, the Montana Railroad was incorporated into the new transcontinental main line of the

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experience ...

("the Milwaukee Road"). This lessened Lombard's importance as a railroad operational base, but the town survived as an interchange point between the Milwaukee and the Northern Pacific. Lombard was named for A.G. Lombard, the chief engineer of the Montana Railroad. The town's post office was first opened in 1896, and closed in 1957. The population of Lombard declined throughout the first half of the twentieth century, corresponding with its lessening importance as a railroad town. Lombard was deserted by the time the Milwaukee Road line through the area was abandoned in 1980, and it remains a

today.

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Further reading