| Description | 1 |
| Long Description | <DIV class="cityaspfont"><ul class= "fotocolumn"><li class="brewfoto"><IMG SRC="/Pictures/Cities/Sluice_Boxes_State_Park.jpg" BORDER=0 WIDTH=222 HEIGHT=140 ALIGN=BASELINE><p class="fotocap">Sluice Boxes State Park</p><p class="fotocred">Photo courtesy: MTOT</p></li><li class="brewfoto"><IMG SRC="/Pictures/Cities/Raynesford_Church.JPG" BORDER=0 WIDTH=222 HEIGHT=140 ALIGN=BASELINE><p class="fotocap">Local Church</p><p class="fotocred">Photo courtesy: MTOT</p></li></ul> Raynesford's history began with the arrival of Edmund R. Huggins and his family 1889. Huggins purchased several hundred acres of land east of Armington. The Great Northern Railway surveyed a route between Armington Junction and Laurel in 1906 and began construction a year later. Railroad officals acquired a right-of-way from Huggins to build a water tower. He also agreed to sell them 40 acres for a townsite if they named the new town after his youngest daughter, Hernietta Ranynesford Huggins. They agreed and the town of Raynesford was born in 1907. (Copyright 2009, <I>Montana Historical Society: Montana Place Names from Alzada to Zortman</I>, Montana Historical Society Research Center Staff)</p><p>When mining was king in Montana, railroad tracks snaked through mountain ranges to reach small boom towns and haul ore to market. Raynesford is north the small present-day communitiy of <a href="/categories/City.asp?CityID=230">Monarch</a> and the ghost towns of Albright and Hughesville. One railroad ran up Belt Creek, and the abandoned railroad bed is now the main component and access route of <a href="/categories/moreinfo.asp?SiteID=1&IDRRecordID=7015">Sluice Boxes State Park</a>. Soaring cliffs and precipitous ledges mark the Belt Creek Canyon as it slices out of the Little Belt Mountains and winds toward the town of <a href="/categories/city.asp?siteid=1&city=belt">Belt</a>. Sluice Boxes State Park consists of the northern most 8 miles of the Belt Creek canyon. The train bridges have been removed and visitors must ford the creek.</p> |
| History | |
| Id | 272 |
| Map | fortbenton_and_denton_and_stanford.gif |
| Created By | TRAVEL_MT |
| Date Created | 12/22/2004 11:43:04 AM |
| Hyperlinks |
|
| Locator Id | 10002800 |
| Map HTML Tag | <map name="nearbycities"><area shape="rect" alt="Virgelle, Montana" coords="138,6,184,20" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=344"><area shape="rect" alt="Loma, Montana" coords="113,22,150,37" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=206"><area shape="rect" alt="Geraldine, Montana" coords="133,70,176,83" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=137"><area shape="rect" alt="Fort Benton, Montana" coords="85,48,179,62" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=120"><area shape="rect" alt="Buffalo, Montana" coords="187,224,218,240" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=47"><area shape="rect" alt="Moore, Montana" coords="210,210,243,222" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=231"><area shape="rect" alt="Utica, Montana" coords="151,212,174,228" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=338"><area shape="rect" alt="Moccasin, Montana" coords="157,197,196,207" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=228"><area shape="rect" alt="Stanford, Montana" coords="142,165,194,181" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=315"><area shape="rect" alt="Neihart, Montana" coords="81,200,129,222" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=235"><area shape="rect" alt="Monarch, Montana" coords="66,181,117,193" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=230"><area shape="rect" alt="Coffee Creek, Montana" coords="149,120,180,138" href="/categories/city.asp?CityID=66"><area shape="rect" alt="Belt, Montana" coor |
| Map X | 644 |
| Map Y | 358 |
| Name | RAYNESFORD |
| Region | RUSSELL |
| State | MT |
| Weather URL | |
| Zip code | 59469 |