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Bridger, Montana

10 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1954 and the latest in 1989. It stands in the Fromberg-Bridger census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59014. It stands on Rushwater Creek. The Survey maps it on the Bridger quadrangle. 662 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,665 feet above sea level.

Bridger within Carbon County

On record in Bridger

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 15 shown

Every listing in Carbon County

Population over time

2 figures

Bridger fell from 708 to 662 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
2010708
2020662-46 (-6%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

5 surveys from 10 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

Fires near this place

26 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 26 fires within 5 miles of Bridger between 1996 and 2020, burning about 514 acres in total. 3 started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined18
Natural3
Equipment and vehicle use3
Railroad operations and maintenance1
Debris and open burning1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
4 September 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCarbon County29 BROWN LN
2 September 1997Missing data/not specified/undetermined5.0 acresMiles City Field OfficeSAGE ASSIS
13 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land Office310 HIGHWAY
9 August 2020Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreBillings Field OfficeROUND BUTTE
9 August 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreCrow AgencyRESORT
5 August 2017Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSouthern Land Office235 LOWER RIVER RD
4 August 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreSouthern Land OfficeBRIDGER CEMETARY
28 August 1996Railroad operations and maintenance80 acresMiles City Field OfficeTRACK 28

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Carbon County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Bridger: 3 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Uranium, Limestone, Dimension. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Limestone OccurrenceLimestone, DimensionOccurrence
UnknownUraniumOccurrence
Unnamed UraniumUraniumOccurrence

Every working recorded in Carbon County

Storms near this place

21 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Bridger in 21 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 12 hail, 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 heavy rain, 1 flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
August 2025Thunderstorm WindBridger-Tree damage, 2 large trees uprooted, grain silo destroyed. Very localized damage suggestive of a microburst. Gust estimated via damage information provided.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindBridger-Multiple pine trees were downed.
July 2018HailBridger-Some tree damage was reported.
June 2008HailBridger-Some crop damage was reported.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindBridger-South Bridger RAWS
June 2006HailBridger-10 to 15 minutes of hail
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBridger-Roofing material ripped off house
June 2005Thunderstorm WindBridger-2 inch diameter tree branches down
May 2001HailBridger-.88 inch hail reported by spotters
May 2001HailBridger-1.00 inch hail reported by spotters
July 2001Heavy RainBridger-1.5 inches of rain in 35 minutes with 2 inches of water over main street
July 2001Heavy RainBridger-1-2 inches of rain in 30 minutes
April 1999Thunderstorm WindBridger-A spotter reported a 60 mph wind gust with a thunderstorm.
July 2018HailBridger-no account filed
July 2018HailBridger-no account filed
June 2008HailBridger-no account filed
June 2008HailBridger-no account filed
June 2008HailBridger-no account filed
June 2005HailBridger-no account filed
February 1997FloodBridger-no account filed
May 1996HailBridger-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Carbon County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Cherry Springs (historical)4.1 miles10
Golden (historical)6.0 miles10
Fromberg6.7 miles10
Coalville (historical)7.2 miles10
Wade10.7 miles10
Belfry11.7 miles12
Bowler12.1 miles11
Edgar12.1 miles10

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on BridgerAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q959753The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 802058. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.