Hardin is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

of Big Horn County,

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, United States. The population was 3,818 at the 2020 census. It is located just north of the

Crow Indian Reservation The Crow Indian Reservation is the homeland of the Crow Tribe. Established 1868, the reservation is located in parts of Big Horn, Yellowstone, and Treasure counties in southern Montana in the United States. The Crow Tribe has an enrolled membe ...

History

The city was named for Samuel Hardin, a friend of developer Charles Henry Morrill. It was incorporated in 1911. Thomas D. Campbell operated the nation's largest wheat farm on 95,000 acres near here and pioneered the use of industrial machinery in farming. The Holly Sugar Corporation established a sugar beet–processing plant in Hardin in 1937.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. The Little Bighorn River empties into the Bighorn River east of town.

Climate

According to the

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

system, Hardin has a

cold semi-arid climate Cold is the presence of low temperature, especially in the atmosphere. In common usage, cold is often a subjective perception. A lower bound to temperature is absolute zero, defined as 0.00K on the Kelvin scale, an absolute thermodynamic ...

, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 3,505 people, 1,301 households, and 850 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,401 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 49.8%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 40.8% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0.1%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.2% from other races, and 5.1% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 7.1% of the population. There were 1,301 households, of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 15.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.29. The median age in the city was 33.2 years. 29.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.1% were from 25 to 44; 24.7% were from 45 to 64; and 13.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 3,384 people, 1,295 households, and 868 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,411 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 62.26%

, 0.12%

, 31.59% Native American, 0.35% Asian, 1.03% from other races, and 4.64% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 5.53% of the population. There were 1,295 households, out of which 36.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were

living together, 16.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.9% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.16. In the city, the population was spread out, with 31.0% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 21.1% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 88.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.6 males. The median income for a household in the city was $28,018, and the median income for a family was $33,729. Males had a median income of $28,493 versus $19,444 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $13,041. About 17.2% of families and 23.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 33.1% of those under age 18 and 13.1% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

The city developed an 800 acre industrial park. It has access to Interstate and rail. Hardin hosts a

bitcoin mining The bitcoin protocol is the set of rules that govern the functioning of bitcoin. Its key components and principles are: a peer-to-peer decentralized network with no central oversight; the blockchain technology, a public ledger that records all ...

facility by Marathon Patent Group, according to a press release by the company in 2021.

Jail

In 2004–05, a consortium including architectural, bond sellers and contractors located in Texas, promoting the construction of speculative prison and jail ventures convinced Hardin's industrial development authority to float a $27 million bond issuance to build the Two Rivers Detention Facility. It was designed for 464 inmates, and was to be located on a sugar beet field. The facility was slated to open in July 2007 but the state of Montana would not approve it. The Authority bonds defaulted on May 1, 2008. The consortium's contract terminated in January 2009 without any prisoners ever being housed in the jail. In November 2009 the Two Rivers Board hired its fifth director. A reserve fund of $814,000 was earmarked to maintain the building for possible future use. It remained complete and vacant for over seven years, though it was partially filled for 18 months. By February 2016, empty once again, it had cost the city $582,595 paid to Two Rivers to maintain it since 2004. Due to unpaid interest on the defaulted bonds, its estimated indebtedness had increased to over $40 million by December 2015. In April 2019, the

Bureau of Indian Affairs The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), also known as Indian Affairs (IA), is a United States List of United States federal agencies, federal agency within the U.S. Department of the Interior, Department of the Interior. It is responsible for im ...

took possession and began operations. The name was changed to the Rocky Mountain Regional Detention Facility.

Arts and culture

The Big Horn County Historical Museum is located in Hardin. It sits on 35 acres and has 24 historic structures. The Hardin Area Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture conducts the annual Little Big Horn Days festival the 3rd weekend in June. It includes the Custer's Last Stand Reenactment written by Joe Medicine Crow. There is also a PRCA rodeo and

Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly, a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not linked scientifically to any certain trait but is rathe ...

Native Days. The Big Horn County Library operates in Hardin.

Education

The Hardin School Districts educate students from kindergarten to 12th grade. The Hardin Elementary School District has 5 schools. Hardin High School had 529 students enrolled in the 2021-2022 school year. Their team name is the Bulldogs.

Media

Radio

* KHDN 1230 AM has a news talk information format. * KNPC 88.5 FM has a religious format. * KRWS-LP 100.7 FM has an

oldies Oldies is a term for musical genres such as pop music, rock and roll, doo-wop, surf music from the second half of the 20th century, specifically from around the mid-1950s to the 1980s, as well as for a radio format playing this music. Since 2 ...

format.

Newspapers

* Big Horn County News * The Original Briefs

Infrastructure

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

passes the northern part of town from east to west. It is also served by Old US Route 87 as a

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. Where parallel high-speed roads are provided as part of a maj ...

as well as secondary highways 216, 236, 307, 313, and 384. Big Horn County Airport is a public use airport located 3 miles west of town. The nearest commercial airport is Billings Logan International Airport.

Notable people

* Kroy Biermann, NFL

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

* Bill Christiansen, 25th Lieutenant Governor of Montana * Kendall Cross, Olympic Gold Medalist in

Freestyle Wrestling Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman. scholastic wrestling, High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the U ...

* Tim Fox, Attorney General of Montana

References

External links

* {{authority control County seats in Montana Cities in Big Horn County, Montana Cities in Montana