Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.

From the record

One of 11 National Register listings published here for Broadwater County · listed in 2019 · category: Building.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 131 South Spruce Street, Townsend, 59644
When was it listed? August 2019
Category. building
Census division. Townsend East
National Register reference number. 100004236 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.

Fires near this property

31 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 31 fires within 5 miles of Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21 between 1992 and 2020, burning about 1,104 acres in total. 3 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	15
Natural	3
Debris and open burning	3
Smoking	2
Arson/incendiarism	2
Power generation/transmission/distribution	2
Equipment and vehicle use	2
Firearms and explosives use	1
Recreation and ceremony	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
28 September 1992	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Butte Field Office	NG 11
25 September 1994	Smoking	246 acres	Helena - Lewis and Clark National Forest	MISSOURI RIVER
5 August 1995	Recreation and ceremony	80 acres	Helena - Lewis and Clark National Forest	INDIAN CREEK/
24 August 2018	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Central Land Office	not named
21 August 1997	Natural	under an acre	Helena - Lewis and Clark National Forest	LIME PLANT
17 August 2006	Natural	under an acre	Helena - Lewis and Clark National Forest	BIG TRUCK
8 July 2019	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Broadwater County	DAVIS
31 July 2000	Natural	5.0 acres	Central Land Office	not named

Every fire recorded in Broadwater County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 16 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 16 workings within 5 miles of Valley Masonic Lodge No. 21: 7 occurrences, 5 past producers, 2 producers, 2 unknowns. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Gold, Copper, Graphite, Limestone, General. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Indian Creek Lime	Limestone, General	Producer
Unnamed Location	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Occurrence
Valley View Mine	Gold, Zinc, Silver, Lead	Past Producer
White Gulch Mine	Lead	Unknown
Indian Creek	Graphite	Unknown
United Minerals Co. Mill	Graphite	Past Producer
Unnamed Location	Gold, Copper	Occurrence
Unnamed Location	Copper	Occurrence
Unnamed Location	Copper	Occurrence
Unnamed Location	Copper	Occurrence

Every working recorded in Broadwater County

Storms near this property

36 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Townsend, the town this property stands in, in 36 storm reports between 2002 and 2025: 22 thunderstorm wind, 11 hail, 1 lightning, 1 flood. The reports record 1 death. 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
May 2007	Lightning	Townsend	1 killed	Man fishing alone in boat on southern Canyon Ferry Resevoir, on east shore across from Silos, struck and killed by lightning around 320 pm MDT.
May 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Mesonet station GINM8 Ginger RAWS measured a 61 mph wind gust. Time estimated using radar given the station reports once per hour.
September 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Mesonet station GINM8 Ginger RAWS measured a 61 mph wind gust. Time estimated using radar.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Measured via site GINM8 Ginger.
July 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Measured by and reported via Ambient Weather.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	RAWS station GINM8 Ginger measured a peak wind gust of 58 mph. The station reports hourly so the time of the gust was estimated using radar.
May 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Mesonet station Ginger Raws recorded a wind gust of 50 knots.
August 2022	Hail	Townsend	-	Public report of ping pong sized hail.
August 2022	Hail	Townsend	-	Social media post from the Townsend area showed quarter sized hail.
August 2022	Hail	Townsend	-	Public report via social media of quarter sized hail.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	EKHM8 station measured a 56 kt (65 mph) thunderstorm wind gust.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Ginger RAWS measured a 53 kt (61 mph) thunderstorm wind gust.
July 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	The Ginger RAWS near Townsend measured a 67 kt (77 mph) thunderstorm wind gust.
August 2019	Hail	Townsend	-	A trained spotter reports hail size of 1.75 inches in diameter.
August 2019	Hail	Townsend	-	A trained spotter reported hail up to the size of 1.75 inches in diameter.
July 2019	Funnel Cloud	Townsend	-	Trained spotter reported a funnel cloud in Townsend.
July 2019	Hail	Townsend	-	Trained spotter reported hail sized 1.25 inches in Townsend.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Sheriff's office reports a tree limb down on a power line.
August 2019	Hail	Townsend	-	A member of the public estimated hail size up to 2 inches in diameter. There are reports of house windows broken, car windshields cracked, and vehicles dented. the time of event was estimated.
March 2018	Flood	Townsend	-	Broadwater County Emergency Manager reported widespread snowmelt flooding for valley locations in the county. Water was entering basements of some homes. Some roadways were flooded too.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Mesonet reported thunderstorm wind gust of 59 mph.
July 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Thunderstorm outflow winds caused branches to be knocked off trees near the town of Townsend...which fell on nearby power lines...knocking them down. No hail reported...but there was a significant rain shower nearby at the time.
April 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A thunderstorm gust to 71 mph was reported at Townsend 8W (the Elkhorn RAWS site).
August 2016	Hail	Townsend	-	A thunderstorm dropped 1 inch diameter hail at Townsend 11E. Also, a thunderstorm wind gust to 66 mph was reported at Townsend 3WNW.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 62 mph at Townsend 8W. Also, 1.25 inch diameter hail was reported at Townsend.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	High winds measuring 50KT (58MPH) were reported 3 miles W of Townsend, MT.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	Strong outflow winds gusted to an estimated 50KT (58MPH) and knocked down up to 20 power poles 1 mile N of Townsend.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 70 mph at Townsend 8W (the Elkhorn RAWS site).
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 64 mph at Townsend 7NNW (the Silos Recreation site).
July 2008	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust to 83 mph at Townsend 8W.
August 2008	Hail	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm dropped .75 inch diameter hail at Townsend 7SSE.
July 2002	Hail	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced 0.75 inch hail at Townsend 8E.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced a 70 mph wind gust at Ginger. Winds were gusting to over 60 mph in the city of Townsend, with a few trees knocked down.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced an 82 mph wind gust at Canyon Ferry Lake near Townsend, and a 61 mph wind gust in the city of Townsend. Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down. Hail up to one quarter inch was reported.
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced a wind gust of 60 mph at Townsend 6 NE.
August 2002	Hail	Townsend	-	A severe thunderstorm produced 0.88 inch hail in Townsend.

Every storm recorded in Broadwater County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

4 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
State Bank of Townsend	0.7 miles	1992
McCormick's Livery and Feed Stable Sign	5.3 miles	1981
St. Joseph's Catholic Mission Church	7.0 miles	1998
Crow Creek Water Ditch	7.8 miles	2001

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 100004236 in Record Group 79.
Broadwater County	All 11 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
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.