Darby, Montana
17 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1901 and the latest in 1998. It stands in the Darby census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59829. It lies near McQuirk Gulch. The Survey maps it on the Darby quadrangle. 783 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 3,885 feet above sea level.
On record in Darby
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 7 records
Boulder Point Lookoutlisted 2018
Hayward Lodgelisted 2015
West Fork Ranger Stationlisted 2023- Como Schoollisted 2022
- Lost Horse Fireman's Cabin (24RA197)listed 1989
- Medicine Point Lookoutlisted 2018
- University Heights Historic Districtlisted 2012
Population over time
2 figuresDarby grew from 720 to 783 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 | 720 | |
| 2020 | 783 | +63 (+9%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
8 surveys from 17 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.
- 1901 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:125000, 6 printings
- 1956 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1959 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1960 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Darby quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1964 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:250000
- 1980 USGS Hamilton quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
- 1998 USGS Darby quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
148 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 148 fires within 5 miles of Darby between 1992 and 2020, burning about 9,593 acres in total. 73 started naturally. 2 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 73 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 37 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 13 |
| Smoking | 6 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 6 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 1 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 September 2020 | Power generation/transmission/distribution | under an acre | RavaIIi County | D2 - MUTUAL AID - COAL MINE RD |
| 6 September 2018 | Natural | 1.0 acres | Bitterroot National Forest | TIN CUP 2 |
| 5 September 2013 | Natural | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | GOLF BALL |
| 5 September 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | STELLA |
| 5 September 2010 | Natural | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | JERRY FIRE |
| 5 September 2009 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | TIN CUP PARTY |
| 4 September 2019 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | RavaIIi County | E MILES AVE |
| 28 September 2011 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Bitterroot National Forest | SHOT FIRE |
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 Darby: 3 occurrences. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Niobium (Columbium), REE, Lead, Titanium, Metal, Thorium, Iron. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rye Creek Prospect | Niobium (Columbium), REE | Occurrence | Columbite | |
| Slate Creek Mine | Lead | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Victor Placer Area | Titanium, Metal, Thorium, Iron | Occurrence |
Storms near this place
14 since 1996Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Darby in 14 storm reports between 1996 and 2023: 9 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning, 1 flash 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| July 2014 | Lightning | Darby | $100,000 | A single lightning bolt struck small crab-apple trees at a ranch located on Tin Cup Road, killing all 45 cattle crowded together. The Black Angus cattle consisted of cows, calves and a prize bull that died. A conservative damage estimate calculated by the NWS Missoula office is around $100,000. |
| July 2023 | Lightning | Darby | $70,000 | A lightning caused fire consumed hay stored for winter cattle feeding at the Double K Ranch. More than 400 bales each weighting 1000 pounds were lost, which is a year's worth of feed for this ranch. Fencing was also lost in the fire. |
| July 2022 | Hail | Darby | - | Although the largest public report of hail was 3/4 on Deer Mountain east of Darby, MT, radar did estimate 1.25 hail with a reflectivity core of 70 dbz at 33,000 feet. |
| June 2019 | Hail | Darby | - | Hail stones from penny to nickle size still on the ground a day after the thunderstorm passed through. Minor damage to tree leaves and plants also noted. |
| July 2014 | Hail | Darby | - | A person from the public reported dime to nickel size hail along with heavy rain. Pea-size hail was reported in Philipsburg. |
| August 2010 | Hail | Darby | - | A spotter at the Deer Mountain lookout reported dime to quarter size hail and heavy rain. |
| August 2010 | Hail | Darby | - | Broadcast media forwarded on a picture they received from a viewer of hail measuring 1.25 inches in diameter. |
| June 2006 | Hail | Darby | - | no account filed |
| July 2006 | Hail | Darby | - | no account filed |
| June 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Darby | - | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Hail | Darby | - | no account filed |
| July 2001 | Flash Flood | Darby | - | no account filed |
| July 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Darby | - | no account filed |
| August 1996 | Hail | Darby | - | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holtet Court | 0.2 miles | 17 | |
| University Heights | 2.1 miles | 17 | |
| Gorus | 2.8 miles | 17 | |
| Peaks and Pines Park | 4.0 miles | 10 | |
| Como | 4.6 miles | 17 | |
| Conner | 7.0 miles | 8 | |
| Charlos Heights | 7.1 miles | 16 | |
| Ward | 9.0 miles | 16 |
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 Darby | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q968363 | 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 782081. 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.







