The land has been historically inhabited by theCrow people.[4]
Sir George Gore, a wealthy Irish "sportsman", named the local tributary to the Yellowstone River in his favorite hunting area "Glendive" in 1855.[4] Gore killed 105 bears, 2000 buffalos and 1600 elk and deer over 11 months.[4] The town took its name from the stream of the same name 25 years later.[4]
The Montana territorial legislature had created Dawson County in 1869, but did not name a county seat, instead placing it administratively underMeagher County.[5]
Glendive was established by theNorthern Pacific Railway when they built thetranscontinental railroad across the northern tier of the western United States fromMinnesota to thePacific Coast. The town was the headquarters for the Yellowstone Division that encompassed 875 route miles (1,408 km); 546 (879) in main line and 328 (528) in branches with the main routes fromMandan, North Dakota, toBillings, Montana, and from Billings toLivingston.[6][5] There was a steamboat landing for trade toFort Buford and the Upper Missouri River.[6]The settlement mainly consisted of tents and log cabins covered with dirt roofs, until the train station was built from 1880 until 1881.[7] The train station architect was O. M. Rognan.[6]
With the arrival of first load of lumber in 1881 a building boom ensued .[7]That same year, Glendive citizens petitioned to name it the seat of Dawson county.[5]
At the height of the Montana gold rush- fed cattle boom in 1884, 12,000 cattle arrived per week to stock theopen range.[4]
Glendive was briefly an oil boom town after the discovery of oil in theWilliston Basin in the early 1950s.[8] Moving the oil out of the area was difficult and expensive though;[citation needed] the boom ended by 1954 and only a small reserve existed locally.[citation needed]
The community has been impacted in the 2000s by theNorth Dakota oil boom which spurred a modest increase in the population.[9]On January 17, 2015, Glendive was the site of amajor oil spill from a pipeline which contaminated drinking water.[9] It was not until a day later when people complained about odor and taste of the water from the City of Glendive’s Water Treatment Plant that the spill was discovered.[10]The Poplar pipeline by Bridger Pipeline, LLC, ofCasper, Wyoming which crosses the Yellowstone River 6.5 miles North of Glendive had spilled 30,000 gallons Bakken crude oil, which were found as far asCrane, Montana about 60 river miles downstream. It stayed on shorelines until after the spring thaw in April 2015. It contaminated fish and impacted migrating birds. In 2022, Bridger paid $2,000,000 for restoration.[11]
On October 24, 2023, a fire destroyed the Jordan Inn and the Rose Theater,[12] both located in theMerrill Avenue Historic District. The Inn was a complete loss.[13]
According to theU.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.35 square miles (8.68 km2), of which 3.32 square miles (8.60 km2) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km2) is water.[15]
Glendive experiences asemi-arid climate (KöppenBSk) with long, cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers. Together withMedicine Lake, Montana, the town holds the state's all-time-high record of 117 °F (47 °C), which was recorded on July 20, 1893, in Glendive and on July 5, 1937, in Medicine Lake.
On June 29, 1961, anF4tornado struck Glendive, causing between $500,000 and $5 million in damage.[16]
Climate data for Glendive, Montana, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present
As of thecensus[21] of 2010, there were 4,935 people, 2,060 households, and 1,190 families living in the city. Thepopulation density was 1,486.4 inhabitants per square mile (573.9/km2). There were 2,267 housing units at an average density of 682.8 units per square mile (263.6 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 94.4%White, 0.5%African American, 2.4%Native American, 0.4%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 0.3% fromother races, and 1.8% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 2.4% of the population.
There were 2,060 households, of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.4% weremarried couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.2% were non-families. 37.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.84.
The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 19.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 12% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.7% were from 25 to 44; 26.5% were from 45 to 64; and 18.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.4% male and 49.6% female.
As of thecensus of 2000, there were 4,729 people, 1,983 households, and 1,229 families living in the city. The population density was 1,419.0 inhabitants per square mile (547.9/km2). There were 2,204 housing units at an average density of 661.4 units per square mile (255.4 units/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.38% White, 0.30%African American,1.21%Native American, 0.11%Asian, 0.36% fromother races, and 0.66% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 1.02% of the population.
There were 1,983 households, out of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.7% weremarried couples living together, 8.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.86.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 21.7% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 92.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $30,943, and the median income for a family was $40,313. Males had a median income of $30,977 versus $20,132 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $15,544. About 11.6% of families and 14.8% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
Glendive Public Schools educates students from kindergarten through 12th grade.[22]Dawson County High School's team name is the Red Devils.[23]
Glendive is home toDawson Community College, a 2-year college formed in 1940 to meet the educational needs of eastern Montana.[24] The college offers Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of Applied Science degrees as well as certificate programs. Dawson Community College is an open-access college.
Glendive is the smallest of the 210 designated markets for broadcast television in the United States as designated byNielsen Media Research,[27] with one station—KXGN channel 5—carrying aCBS affiliation along with state and local news broadcasts for a small potential audience of several thousand people (county population is 9,059). Until September 2009, KXGN also carried selected prime-timeNBC programming in its schedule, making it the last "Big 3" affiliate to offer programming from more than one network on a single feed. In late June 2010, KXGN moved their NBC programming to aDT2digital subchannel, rejoining the network. KXGN-TV then dropped NBC at 11:59 pm onNew Year's Eve 2024.
K13PL channel 13, atranslator (low-powered rebroadcaster) ofWilliston, North Dakota'sNBC affiliateKUMV was also available until 2013; KUMV is still carried on area cable systems as the market's default NBC affiliate. Three stations inBillings also serve Glendive:ABC affiliate/CW+O&OKSVI 6,Fox affiliateKHMT 4 andPBS member stationKBGS-TV 16.