Formed February 2, 1901 (25th county)
Powell County (6,944), Deer Lodge (3,030)
A tan brick Neo-Classical facility built in 1921 serves as the courthouse for Powell County. The structure is located on a city block on Missouri and Cottonwood Streets between Fourth and Fifth. Interstate Highway 90 Business is two blocks west of the courthouse. Arnold and Van House Architects provided the building designs. The building was restored in 1982. There was an 1886 version of the county courthouse also located in Deer Lodge, the only county seat. The county was created on February 2, 1901 as the 25th county from Deer Lodge County. The county was named for explorer John Wesley Powell. The seat was named by local Native Americans to acknowledge deer herds. It is the same logic for the name of Deer Lodge County.
Powell County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Powell, Deer Lodge, and Granite counties. The county is located in the southwest part of the state between Butte, Montana and Missoula, Montana. A stair-step border forms the east side along the Continental Divide. The west border mirrors the east border for the most part. The county stretches from the 46th latitude to the 48th latitude. The county center is 51.8 miles North-Northwest of Deer Lodge nearer Helmville. The county is surrounded clockwise by Flathead, Lewis and Clark, Jefferson, Deer Lodge, Granite, and Missoula counties.
The area of the county is 2326 square miles. It is 30 out of 56 in the state. It ranks 30 out of 56 in population in the state. It has a density of 3.0 persons per square mile making it 26 out of 56 in the state. Powell County has 43.6% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 90 cuts the southwest corner from west to south. United States Highway 12 enters with Interstate Highway 90 from the west and exits to the east. A four step I-shape bulging from northwest to southeast is the best description of the county. Deer Lodge is in the south quarter of the county. Deer Lodge is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 43.6% of the county population. The county is pronounced POWL.
Deer Lodge
