Formed March 4, 1895 (23rd county)
Sweet Grass County (3,677), Big Timber (1,642)
The stone Romanesque courthouse was erected in 1897 and remodeled and enlarged in 1928. It sits on 1st Avenue at Hooper Street. United States Highway 191 is First Avenue in the town. F. S. Hornbeck is the building designer. A metal cow and calf are in front of the courthouse. An Administrative Building has been added in recent years. The county was formed on March 4, 1895 as the 23rd county with Big Timber as the only county seat. The county name is a descriptive term for the grassland. Big Timber is named for local cottonwood groves. Sweet Grass County was the birthplace for 1 Montana Governor, Judy Martz.
Sweet Grass County government consists of a sheriff and 3 Commissioners. One District Court Judge serves Sweet Grass and Park counties. The county is located in southern Montana. Billings, Montana is east and Great Falls, Montana is northwest of the county. The Yellowstone River flows through the county. The county resembles a radar gun. Big Timber is west and slightly north of center in the county. Big Timber is the county seat and, as the only incorporated city, it is the largest city. It is 44.7% of the county population. The county center is 8.4 miles Southeast of Big Timber nearer Greycliff. The county is surrounded clockwise by Wheatland, Golden Valley, Stillwater, Park, and Meagher counties.
The area of the county is 1855 square miles. It is 37 out of 56 in the state. It ranks 39 out of 56 in population in the state. It has a density of 2.0 persons per square mile making it 34 out of 56 in the state. Sweet Grass County has 44.7% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 90 travels east to west through the county from Stillwater County to Park County. United States Highway 191 enters from the north, Wheatland County, and joins Interstate Highway 90 west, Park County.
Big Timber
