West Glacier, Montana

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in Montana, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}} {{Infobox settlement | official_name = West Glacier, Montana | settlement_type = Census-designated place | image_skyline = West Glacier Montana Sign looking east on US2.jpg | imagesize = | image_caption = Sign for West Glacier on US Route 2 | image_map = | mapsize = | map_caption = | pushpin_map = USA Montana | pushpin_label = West Glacier  | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = United States | subdivision_type1 = State | subdivision_name1 = Montana | subdivision_type2 = County | subdivision_name2 = Flathead  | government_footnotes = | government_type = | leader_title = | leader_name = | established_title = | established_date =  | unit_pref = Imperial | area_footnotes = <ref name="TigerWebMapServer">{{cite web|title=ArcGIS REST Services Directory|url=https://tigerweb.geo.census.gov/arcgis/rest/services/TIGERweb/Places_CouSub_ConCity_SubMCD/MapServer|publisher=United States Census Bureau|accessdate=September 5, 2022}}</ref> | area_total_km2 = 10.92 | area_land_km2 = 10.73 | area_water_km2 = 0.19 | area_total_sq_mi = 4.22 | area_land_sq_mi = 4.14 | area_water_sq_mi = 0.07  | population_as_of = 2020 | population_footnotes = | population_total = 221 | population_density_km2 = 20.60 | population_density_sq_mi = 53.36  | timezone = Mountain (MST) | utc_offset = -7 | timezone_DST = MDT | utc_offset_DST = -6 | elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis/> | elevation_ft = 3202 | coordinates = {{coord|48|29|35|N|113|58|43|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}  | postal_code_type = ZIP codes | postal_code = 59921, 59936 | area_code = 406 | blank_name = FIPS code | blank_info = 30-79075 | blank1_name = GNIS feature ID | blank1_info = 2583863<ref name=gnis>{{GNIS|2583863}}</ref> | footnotes = }} '''West Glacier''' is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in eastern Flathead County, Montana, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 221.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Census Data |url=https://data.census.gov/profile/West_Glacier_CDP,_Montana?g=160XX00US3079075 |access-date=2023-10-06 |website=data.census.gov}}</ref> The town is at the west entrance to Glacier National Park and is located on U.S. Route 2 and a main line of the BNSF Railway. The headquarters complex for Glacier National Park is located nearby.<ref name="Park HQ">{{cite web|title=Glacier National Park|url=https://www.nps.gov/glac/contacts.htm|website=NPS.gov|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref>

==History== thumb|left|U.S. post office at West Glacier [[File:West Glacier Train Station.jpg|thumb|left|West Glacier's former Great Northern Railway station, now used by Amtrak]] Remote and almost inaccessible, the West Glacier area drew only limited attention by white settlers until the main line of the Great Northern Railway (GNR) reached the northern Rocky Mountains in 1890. The transcontinental GNR was completed on January 6, 1893, at Scenic, Washington.{{sfn|Great Northern Railway|2013}}

The railroad established a station named "Belton" at the current West Glacier site, and a small community slowly began to develop in the area.<ref name="mhs">{{cite web |title=West Glacier|url=http://mtplacenames.org/ |website=Montana Place Names Companion |publisher=Montana Historical Society |access-date=11 April 2021}}</ref> A post office was established at Belton in 1900. The number of homesteaders and other settlers remained small, however, due to the region's rugged, heavily forested terrain.

The community, heavily dependent on tourism, has a small permanent population that expands significantly during the summer tourist season; most area businesses are likewise seasonal—including the 18-hole golf course—and are primarily geared towards travelers. The elevation is {{convert|3169|ft}}.

The Swiss-style Belton Chalets in West Glacier, originally built in 1910, was the first Great Northern Railway hotel at Glacier National Park and would welcome guests arriving by train to the park, before they would travel into the park's back-country chalets and tent camps. During the Great Depression, the Belton Chalet housed the crews working on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Over the years, the chalet housed many businesses, while today it is one of Montana's grandest historic hotels.<ref name="Belton Chalet">{{cite web| title=Belton Chalet - West Glacier| url=http://glaciermt.com/historical-sites.php| website=glaciermt.com|access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> The chalet survives today under new ownership and is a registered National Historic Landmark.

In 1949 the town changed its name from Belton to West Glacier to promote the tourism potential.<ref name="mhs" />

==Tourism== ===Railroad tourism=== By the early twentieth century a small number of tourists had begun to visit the spectacular mountain landscapes east and north of Belton, and in 1910 that area was set aside as Glacier National Park.<ref name="National Park Service">{{cite web| title=Glacier National Park -- History and Culture| url=https://www.nps.gov/glac/learn/historyculture/index.htm| website=NPS.gov| access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> As the railway station nearest the area, Belton became a primary gateway to Glacier, and the park headquarters was established there.<ref name="Park HQ" /> Currently Amtrak's ''Empire Builder'' makes stops daily at the West Glacier station.

===Automobile tourism=== thumb|right|225px|Travel Alberta Visitors Centre encouraging cross-border tourism The growth of tourist traffic through Belton increased substantially in the 1920s and 1930s, largely due to the improvement of automobile routes through the area. U.S. Highway 2 was completed eastward from Belton over Marias Pass in 1930, and the Going-to-the-Sun Road<ref name="Going to the Sun">{{cite web| title=Going to the Sun Road - status| url=http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061008120456/http://home.nps.gov/applications/glac/roadstatus/roadstatus.cfm| url-status=dead| archive-date=October 8, 2006| website=NPS.gov| publisher=National Park Service| access-date=5 June 2015}}</ref> was completed across Glacier Park in 1932.<ref>Carr, p. 186.</ref> In 1938, a number of tourist-oriented businesses were constructed at the western end of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Belton, forming the core of a new commercial district for the town. These businesses, owned by the Lundgren family since 1946, remain today.

The town of Belton was renamed "West Glacier" in 1949, to better reflect its geographic location and make it more identifiable to tourists, although the railroad station and chalet complex retained the Belton name.

==Demographics== {{US Census population |align=left | 2010 = 227 | 2020 = 221 | footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=http://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|accessdate=June 4, 2016}}</ref> }}{{clear left}}

==Climate== According to the Köppen Climate Classification, it is a warm summer continental climate (Dfb), bordering a continental warm summer Mediterranean climate (Dsb).

{{Weather box |location = West Glacier, Montana, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1948–present |single line = Y |collapsed = yes |Jan avg record high F = 42.3 |Feb avg record high F = 44.9 |Mar avg record high F = 55.5 |Apr avg record high F = 69.4 |May avg record high F = 80.3 |Jun avg record high F = 85.7 |Jul avg record high F = 90.8 |Aug avg record high F = 90.8 |Sep avg record high F = 82.7 |Oct avg record high F = 69.3 |Nov avg record high F = 52.1 |Dec avg record high F = 41.7 |year avg record high F = 92.6

|Jan record high F = 55 |Feb record high F = 58 |Mar record high F = 66 |Apr record high F = 83 |May record high F = 90 |Jun record high F = 98 |Jul record high F = 99 |Aug record high F = 100 |Sep record high F = 95 |Oct record high F = 79 |Nov record high F = 65 |Dec record high F = 60 |year record high F = |Jan record low F = -39 |Feb record low F = -32 |Mar record low F = -30 |Apr record low F = 3 |May record low F = 13 |Jun record low F = 24 |Jul record low F = 31 |Aug record low F = 26 |Sep record low F = 18 |Oct record low F = -3 |Nov record low F = -17 |Dec record low F = -36 |year record low F = |precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation inch = 3.54 | Feb precipitation inch = 2.17 | Mar precipitation inch = 2.58 | Apr precipitation inch = 2.15 | May precipitation inch = 2.62 | Jun precipitation inch = 3.80 | Jul precipitation inch = 1.39 | Aug precipitation inch = 1.17 | Sep precipitation inch = 1.96 | Oct precipitation inch = 3.05 | Nov precipitation inch = 3.23 | Dec precipitation inch = 3.21 |year precipitation inch = 30.87 | unit precipitation days = 0.01 in | Jan precipitation days = 17.9 | Feb precipitation days = 14.5 | Mar precipitation days = 15.0 | Apr precipitation days = 13.9 | May precipitation days = 13.6 | Jun precipitation days = 14.9 | Jul precipitation days = 8.5 | Aug precipitation days = 6.8 | Sep precipitation days = 9.6 | Oct precipitation days = 13.6 | Nov precipitation days = 16.3 | Dec precipitation days = 17.8 | year precipitation days = 162.4 |Jan snow inch = 32.0 |Feb snow inch = 16.0 |Mar snow inch = 14.0 |Apr snow inch = 3.1 |May snow inch = 0.5 |Jun snow inch = 0.0 |Jul snow inch = 0.0 |Aug snow inch = 0.0 |Sep snow inch = 0.0 |Oct snow inch = 2.0 |Nov snow inch = 16.2 |Dec snow inch = 31.4 |year snow inch = 115.2 |unit snow days = 0.1 in |Jan snow days = 13.9 |Feb snow days = 10.5 |Mar snow days = 6.2 |Apr snow days = 1.8 |May snow days = 0.3 |Jun snow days = 0.0 |Jul snow days = 0.0 |Aug snow days = 0.0 |Sep snow days = 0.0 |Oct snow days = 1.0 |Nov snow days = 6.7 |Dec snow days = 14.2 |year snow days = 54.6 |source 1 = NOAA<ref>{{cite web | url = https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mso | title = NOWData – NOAA Online Weather Data | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | access-date = April 25, 2023 | archive-date = August 3, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210803052627/https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mso | url-status = dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&startDate=0001-01-01&endDate=9996-12-31&stations=USC00248809&format=pdf | title = Summary of Monthly Normals 1991–2020 | publisher = National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | access-date = April 25, 2023 }}</ref> }}

==References== {{reflist}}

Category:Census-designated places in Flathead County, Montana Category:Census-designated places in Montana