{"id":19924,"date":"2023-06-26T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-26T13:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uscountycourthouses.org\/?page_id=19924"},"modified":"2026-08-09T12:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-09T17:55:15","slug":"chouteau","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/uscountycourthouses.org\/?page_id=19924","title":{"rendered":"Chouteau"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Formed February 2, 1865 (3rd<\/sup> county)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chouteau County (5,896), Fort Benton (1,456)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Chouteau County Queen Anne courthouse was built in 1884.\u00a0 The courthouse is on a square at Franklin and Washington avenues and 13th<\/sup> and 14th<\/sup> streets.\u00a0 Thirteenth Street is Montana State Highway 80 in this part of town.\u00a0 Kees and Fisk are the architects.\u00a0 The red brick building has been enlarged.\u00a0 It features a tower with a working clock.\u00a0 The county was established on February 2, 1865 with Fort Benton as the only county seat.\u00a0 It is one of the 3rd<\/sup> county.\u00a0 It is named for fur trader Pierre Chouteau, Jr.\u00a0 He is also the namesake for the county seat of Teton County.\u00a0 Fort Benton is named for the local fort which was named for Missouri Senator Thomas Hart Benton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chouteau County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a collector, a coroner, an assessor and a clerk (executive).\u00a0 It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.)\u00a0 One District Court Judge serves Chouteau, Hill, and Liberty counties and a court clerk serves Chouteau County (judicial.)\u00a0<\/a> Chouteau County is in the northern part of the state.\u00a0 Great Falls, Montana is directly southwest of the county.\u00a0 The Missouri River flows through the county.\u00a0 The county center is 8.7 miles Northeast of Fort Benton nearer Loma.\u00a0 The county is surrounded clockwise by Hill, Blaine, Fergus, Judith Basin, Cascade, Teton, Pondera, and Liberty counties.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The area of the county is 3973 square miles.  It is 10 out of 56 in the state.  It ranks 34 out of 56 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1.5 persons per square mile making it 41 out of 56 in the state.  <\/a>Chouteau County has 38.5% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 87 goes northeast to southwest in the county from Hill County to Cascade County.  The county\u2019s shape could be described as a pistol facing west.  Fort Benton is in the western third of the county.  Fort Benton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 24.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SHOE-TOE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Location in State and Municipalities<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Big Sandy<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fort Benton<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Geraldine<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Jerry Fager<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Courthouses.co<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Addition (Courthouses.co)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Formed February 2, 1865 (3rd county) Chouteau County (5,896), Fort Benton (1,456) The Chouteau County Queen Anne courthouse was built in 1884.\u00a0 The courthouse is on a square at Franklin and Washington avenues and 13th and 14th streets.\u00a0 Thirteenth Street is Montana State Highway 80 in this part of town.\u00a0 Kees and Fisk are the … <\/p>\n

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