Polaris, Montana
12 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1955 and the latest in 1997. It stands in the Dillon census division. It lies in ZIP code area 59746. It stands on Billings Creek. The Survey maps it on the Polaris quadrangle. It stands 6,352 feet above sea level.
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 12 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.
- 1955 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1957 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1959 USGS Polaris quadrangle1:62500, 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1965 USGS Dillon quadrangle1:250000
- 1981 USGS Salmon quadrangle1:100000
- 1988 USGS Polaris quadrangle1:24000
- 1997 USGS Polaris quadrangle1:24000
Fires near this place
15 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 15 fires within 5 miles of Polaris between 1992 and 2019, burning about 3,762 acres in total. 8 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 |
|---|---|
| Natural | 8 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 2 |
| Smoking | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 August 2000 | Natural | 448 acres | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | CIRCLE S |
| 7 August 2018 | Smoking | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | BULL CREEK |
| 5 August 1994 | Natural | 5.0 acres | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | not named |
| 26 August 2015 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Central Land Office | GRASSHOPPER FIRE |
| 23 August 1997 | Natural | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | CLARK CREEK |
| 22 August 1998 | Equipment and vehicle use | 30 acres | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | LITTLE GOLD |
| 21 July 2012 | Recreation and ceremony | under an acre | Central Land Office | SAWTOOTH TRAILHEAD |
| 20 July 1999 | Natural | under an acre | Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | POLARIS |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
10 of 23 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Polaris: 7 occurrences, 7 past producers, 5 unknowns, 3 prospects. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Silver, Tungsten, Gold, Lead. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Harrison Mine | Silver, Lead, Zinc | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Else Claim | Gold, Silver, Copper | Occurrence | Vein | |
| Farlin Creek | Limestone, Dimension | Past Producer | ||
| Hazel Prospect | Tungsten, Molybdenum | Occurrence | Powellite, Scheelite | |
| Miss Grundy | Iron, Silica | Prospect | ||
| Polaris Mine | Silver, Copper, Zinc, Lead, Gold | Past Producer | 1883, 1884 | |
| Polaris Mine | Silver, Lead, Zinc, Copper | Past Producer | ||
| Silver King Mine | Silver, Copper, Lead, Gold, Zinc | Past Producer | Vein | |
| Silver King Mine | Lead, Zinc, Silver | Past Producer | ||
| Unnamed | Tungsten, Gold, Silver | Unknown |
Storms near this place
3 since 2013Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Polaris in 3 storm reports between 2013 and 2024: 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 heavy rain, 1 hail. 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 2024 | Hail | Polaris | - | Public report of large hail in northern Beaverhead county. Photo received via email showing the large hail. |
| June 2020 | Heavy Rain | Polaris | - | Mesonet station mulm8 8.2 e Polaris. |
| August 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Polaris | - | Strong winds measuring 90KT (104MPH) were reported 3 miles N of Polaris, MT. Winds caused damage to a home and trees in the area of the report. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maverick Mountain | 3.9 miles | 13 | |
| Elkhorn Hot Springs | 5.9 miles | 13 | |
| Gloss Place | 8.2 miles | 9 | |
| Coolidge (historical) | 9.4 miles | 13 | |
| Elkhorn | 9.4 miles | 13 | |
| Ermont Mill | 12.9 miles | 18 | |
| Argenta | 15.0 miles | 19 | |
| Jackson | 15.3 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 Polaris | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q4371587 | 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 789046. 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.








