Stanford is a town 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 ...

Judith Basin County Judith Basin County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,023. Its county seat is the town of Stanford. History Judith Basin County was formed of area taken from western Fergus and eastern Casc ...

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 at 403 as of the 2020 census. Stanford began with the establishment of a trading post by Thomas C. Power in 1875. In 1908 the town moved about 3 miles to be next to the new railroad. The economy is based on agriculture. In 2023, the Redwood Group, a leading supplier of grains for premium pet food, agreed to operate a pulse processing, storage, and transloading facility in Stanford. Stanford was frequented by

C.M. Russell Charles Marion Russell (March 19, 1864 – October 24, 1926), also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an American artist of the American Old West. He created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Native Americans, ...

and is featured in some of his landscape paintings.

Geography and climate

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 town has a total area of , all land. Stanford is located in a basin between the Highwood, Big Snowy, and

Little Belt The Little Belt (, ) is a strait between the island of Funen and the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark. It is one of the three Danish straits, Danish Straits that drain and connect the Baltic Sea to the Kattegat strait, which drains west to the Nor ...

mountains. It is a largely agricultural area which includes livestock and small grains.

U.S. Route 87 U.S. Highway 87 (US 87) is a north–south United States highway (though it is signed east–west in New Mexico) that runs for from northern Montana to southern Texas, making it the longest north–south road to not have a "1" in ...

passes through town. Nearby Ackley Lake State Park is one of the few public lakes in Central Montana. It provides recreational activities, including fishing for several types of trout and kokanee salmon.

Climate

Demographics

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the town was $22,679, and the median income for a family was $34,479. Males had a median income of $22,813 versus $20,000 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 town was $15,253. About 9.7% of families and 13.8% 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 22.5% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

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 401 people, 198 households, and 110 families residing in the town. 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 247 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.3%

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 ...

, 0.2%

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 ...

, 2.0% Native American, 0.2% from other races, and 0.2% 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 1.5% of the population. There were 198 households, of which 22.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% 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, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.4% were non-families. 40.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.03 and the average family size was 2.72. The median age in the town was 49.4 years. 19.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 3.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.6% were from 25 to 44; 37.2% were from 45 to 64; and 21.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the town was 51.4% male and 48.6% female.

Arts and culture

The Judith Basin County Museum is in town. It is a local history museum with a wide range of artifacts and displays. The CMR Stampede is an annual PRCA rodeo held in Stanford. This large community event features a street dance, pancake breakfast, barbecue dinner, running and bike races, and a quickdraw art contest. The Judith Basin County Free Library serves the town.

Education

Stanford Public Schools educates students from kindergarten through 12th grade. Stanford High School is a Class C school (less than 108 students) which helps determine athletic competitions. They are known as the Wolves.

Media

The ''Judith Basin Press'' is the local newspaper. It is published weekly. The radio station KYPF, a

Yellowstone Public Radio Yellowstone Public Radio is a public radio regional network based in Billings, Montana with transmitters covering most of Montana, as well as northern Wyoming and eastern Idaho. It is operated by Montana State University Billings. It airs a ...

translator, is licensed in Stanford.

Infrastructure

U.S. Highway 87 passes by the southwest side of Stanford. Montana Highway 80's southern terminus is at US 87, MT 3 and MT 200 in town. Stanford Airport (Biggerstaff Field) is a county-owned, public-use airport located one mile (2 km) south of town.

Notable person

Albert Henry Ottenweller Albert Henry Ottenweller (April 5, 1916 – September 23, 2012) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as the second bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Steubenville, Diocese of Steubenville in Ohio from 1977 to 1992. ...

, Roman Catholic bishop

References

External links

Community information
{{Authority control Towns in Judith Basin County, Montana County seats in Montana