Carlton, Montana
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1912 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Lolo census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59833. It stands on Carlton Creek. The Survey maps it on the Florence quadrangle. 721 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,176 feet above sea level.
On record in Carlton
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 within a mile 1 record
The National Register names another town for these. They stand within one mile of this settlement's coordinate.
Carlton Community Churchlisted 2011 · 0.3 miles away
Population over time
2 figuresCarlton grew from 694 to 721 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 | 694 | |
| 2020 | 721 | +27 (+4%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 13 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.
- 1912 USGS Missoula quadrangle1:125000, 4 printings
- 1956 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1967 USGS Florence quadrangle1:24000
- 1981 USGS Missoula West quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Florence quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
124 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 124 fires within 5 miles of Carlton between 1992 and 2020, burning about 141 acres in total. 28 started naturally. 4 were 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 | 39 |
| Debris and open burning | 33 |
| Natural | 28 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 13 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 4 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 3 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
| Other causes | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 September 1994 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Southwestern Land Office | LOWER MORMON |
| 24 September 2015 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | ONE HORSE FIRE |
| 2 September 2009 | Natural | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | CARLTON CREEK |
| 17 September 2006 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Lolo National Forest | MORMON PEAK#4 |
| 14 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | RavaIIi County | 441 TIE CHUTE LN |
| 13 September 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Missoula County | 200158 |
| 12 September 1996 | Natural | 2.5 acres | Southwestern Land Office | WOODCHUCK |
| 1 September 2009 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Missoula Field Office | BALDY MOUNTAIN |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
9 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 9 workings within 5 miles of Carlton: 5 occurrences, 2 prospects, 1 past producer, 1 unknown. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Gold, Lead, Silver, Barium-Barite, Copper, Silica, Pumice. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Schroeder | Quartz | Occurrence | ||
| Whaley Copper | Copper, Lead, Silver, Zinc | Prospect | ||
| Wild Maple | Zinc, Gold, Lead, Silver | Prospect | ||
| Lolo Quartz Deposit | Silica | Past Producer | Quartz | |
| Maclay | Silica | Unknown | ||
| Unnamed Pumice | Pumice | Occurrence | ||
| Unnamed Pumice | Pumice | Occurrence | ||
| Whaley | Barium-Barite, Copper | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Whaley Mining Claims | Barium-Barite, Copper, Gold, Lead, Silver | Occurrence | Barite, Chalcocite, Chalcopyrite, Malachite |
Storms near this place
7 since 2010Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Carlton in 7 storm reports between 2010 and 2025: 6 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2025 | Hail | Carlton | - | Hail estimated slightly over one inch in diameter was reported in Lolo, an event confirmed by at least two separate photos submitted by local residents. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Carlton | - | One inch hail was reported on the 'eastside' of Florence, MT. |
| August 2015 | Hail | Carlton | - | Public tweeted image confirms at least quarter size hail. |
| May 2013 | Hail | Carlton | - | Tree branches 2 inches in diameter broken off trees and branches stripped of leaves. |
| July 2010 | Hail | Carlton | - | An NWS employee reported one inch in diameter hail north of Florence. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Carlton | - | Media shared photos of a backyard trampoline blown up against the side of a home. |
| August 2010 | Hail | Carlton | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| McClain | 2.1 miles | 13 | |
| Cozy Court | 5.4 miles | 14 | |
| Lolo | 5.7 miles | 14 | |
| Orchard Homes | 13.0 miles | 14 | |
| Yukon Saddle | 14.2 miles | 18 | |
| Missoula | 14.3 miles | 18 | |
| Hell Gate (historical) | 14.3 miles | 15 | |
| Travois Village | 14.9 miles | 15 |
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 Carlton | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q5752322 | 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 780946. 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.







