Formed February 2, 1865 (4th county)
Deer Lodge County (9,424), Anaconda (9,424)
An old bell tower sits on top of the 1898 masonry and stone courthouse at the end of Main Street at 8th Street. Marble columns line the sides of the entry. Montana State Highway 1 is about 5 blocks east of the building. Previous courthouses were located at Silver Bow and Deer Lodge in this original county (4th county) formed on February 2, 1865. Charles F. Bell and John N. Kent were the architects for this Neo-Classical facility. The county seat was named for the Anaconda mine in Butte, Montana. Deer Lodge County was named by local Native Americans for deer herds. The same logic was used to name the county seat of Powell County.
Deer Lodge County government consists of an executive, a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) One District Court Judge serves Deer Lodge, Granite, and Powell counties and a court clerk serves Deer Lodge County (judicial.) The county is located in the southwest part of the state. The county center is 4.6 miles Southwest of Anaconda. The county is surrounded clockwise by Powell, Jefferson, Silver Bow, Beaverhead, Ravalli, and Granite counties. The county is a fat line lying northeast to southwest. The southern, eastern and western borders follow mountain ranges. The northern border is mainly straight across.
The area of the county is 737 square miles. It is 55 out of 56 in the state. It ranks 22 out of 56 in population in the state. It has a density of 12.8 persons per square mile making it 10 out of 56 in the state. Deer Lodge County has 100.0% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 90 crosses the extreme tip of the northeast part of the county, north to south. Anaconda is in the northeast third of the county. Anaconda and Deer Lodge County governments are combined therefore it is the county seat and the only incorporated city. It is 100.0% of the county population. The county seat is pronounced AN-A-KON-DA.
Anaconda
