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.
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
Corey Houselisted 1987
Forsman Houselisted 1987
Glidden Houselisted 1987
Glidden Mercantilelisted 1987
Raymond Hough Houselisted 1987
Dr. Carl Marcus Houselisted 1987
Methodist Episcopal Church and Parsonagelisted 1987- Bridger Coal Company Houselisted 1987
- Bridger Opera Houselisted 1987
- Farmers Trading Companylisted 2025
- Henry Gebo Houselisted 1987
- Heatherington Boarding Houselisted 1987
Population over time
2 figuresBridger 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.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 708 | |
| 2020 | 662 | -46 (-6%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
5 surveys from 10 printed sheetsMatched 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.
- 1954 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Bridger quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Billings quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1989 USGS Bridger quadrangle1:100000
Fires near this place
26 since 1996Regional 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/undetermined | 18 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Debris and open burning | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Carbon County | 29 BROWN LN |
| 2 September 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.0 acres | Miles City Field Office | SAGE ASSIS |
| 13 September 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | 310 HIGHWAY |
| 9 August 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Billings Field Office | ROUND BUTTE |
| 9 August 2001 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Crow Agency | RESORT |
| 5 August 2017 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Southern Land Office | 235 LOWER RIVER RD |
| 4 August 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Southern Land Office | BRIDGER CEMETARY |
| 28 August 1996 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 80 acres | Miles City Field Office | TRACK 28 |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
3 within 5 milesRegional 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 | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limestone Occurrence | Limestone, Dimension | Occurrence | ||
| Unknown | Uranium | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Uranium | Uranium | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
21 since 1996Regional 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.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | Tree damage, 2 large trees uprooted, grain silo destroyed. Very localized damage suggestive of a microburst. Gust estimated via damage information provided. |
| July 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | Multiple pine trees were downed. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Bridger | - | Some tree damage was reported. |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bridger | - | Some crop damage was reported. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | South Bridger RAWS |
| June 2006 | Hail | Bridger | - | 10 to 15 minutes of hail |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | Roofing material ripped off house |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | 2 inch diameter tree branches down |
| May 2001 | Hail | Bridger | - | .88 inch hail reported by spotters |
| May 2001 | Hail | Bridger | - | 1.00 inch hail reported by spotters |
| July 2001 | Heavy Rain | Bridger | - | 1.5 inches of rain in 35 minutes with 2 inches of water over main street |
| July 2001 | Heavy Rain | Bridger | - | 1-2 inches of rain in 30 minutes |
| April 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bridger | - | A spotter reported a 60 mph wind gust with a thunderstorm. |
| July 2018 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| February 1997 | Flood | Bridger | - | no account filed |
| May 1996 | Hail | Bridger | - | no account filed |
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 | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cherry Springs (historical) | 4.1 miles | 10 | |
| Golden (historical) | 6.0 miles | 10 | |
| Fromberg | 6.7 miles | 10 | |
| Coalville (historical) | 7.2 miles | 10 | |
| Wade | 10.7 miles | 10 | |
| Belfry | 11.7 miles | 12 | |
| Bowler | 12.1 miles | 11 | |
| Edgar | 12.1 miles | 10 |
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 Bridger | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q959753 | The 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.




