Montana Department of Transportation, Glendive District Office records

Montana Department of Transportation, Glendive District Office records, 1939-2001

Overview of the Collection

Creator: Montana. Department of Transportation.
Title: Montana Department of Transportation, Glendive District Office records
Dates: 1939-2001 (inclusive)
19392001
Quantity: 2.4 linear feet
Collection Number: RS 492 (Formerly RS 412)
Summary: This collection is a sub-subgroup (Office) of the Montana Department of Transportation records, RS 492. The Glendive District Office currently (as of 2024) operates under the Director's Office Division. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Transportation records. This collection contains subject files, correspondence, minutes, and construction diaries of the Montana Department of Transportation Glendive District Office, Miles City Area Office, and Wolf Point Area Office.
Repository: Montana Historical Society, Library & Archives
Montana Historical Society Research Center Archives
225 North Roberts
PO Box 201201
Helena MT
59620-1201
Telephone: 4064442681
Fax: 4064445297
mhslibrary@mt.gov
Access Restrictions: Collection is open for research.
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC)

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Montana State Highway Commission was created in 1913 by the state Legislative Assembly. The original Commission was composed of three members. In 1917 new legislation altered the organization of the Commission by authorizing the appointment of twelve members according to geographic highway districts. Membership was changed again in 1921 to three members appointed by the Governor and in 1941 to five members, also appointed by the Governor. In 1971 the Commission was renamed the Montana Department of Highways, created by Chapter 7 of the Executive Reorganization Act of 1971 and implemented by executive order of the Governor on December 16, 1971. The Department of Highways took over all but the advisory functions of the State Highway Commission.

By 1972, the Department consisted of seven divisions: the Legal Division, Personnel Division, Centralized Services Division, Engineering Division, Motor Pool Division, Gross Vehicle Weight Division, and the Maintenance Division. Each division is headed by an administrator. The Centralized Services Division, Engineering Division, Motor Pool Division, Gross Vehicle Weight Division, and the Maintenance Division are furthered sub-divided into bureaus, headed by Chiefs. In 1991, the Department of Highways became the Department of Transportation. This was primarily a name change. However, there were some structural and administrative changes.

The Highway Department, the Department of Highways, and Department of Transportation maintained regional offices in the five commissioner districts: Billings, Butte, Glendive, Great Falls, and Missoula. The District Engineer (later called the District Administrator) was the chief administrative officer in each district office. District office files document the activities of the district administrators, engineers, maintenance crew, and other district office employees. The district offices addressed administrative, functional, and project related issues of their particular area, including: highway needs, current construction projects, HR/training for employees, road design, federal and state aid and grants, reports to the Department of Highways/ Department of Transportation in Helena regarding general maintenance, construction, and area concerns, etc. District administrators held meetings every 6 weeks. Other employees in the district and area offices also attended duty-specific meetings with outside district staff members; including maintenance crew meetings, engineer meetings etc., in order to maintain consistent communication among the districts and with other state agencies regarding programs, projects, and district goals. The files in the district office were kept by the District Engineer/Administrator.

The Glendive District area includes the Wolf Point and Miles City Area Offices. The Area Offices operate similarly to the District Offices providing contacts; administration, maintenance, construction, and traveler information services; and communication with local, regional, and state officials as well as with the public.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Glendive District Office records contain correspondence, subject files, meeting minutes and some reports of the Glendive District Office, and the district area offices in Wolf Point and Miles City.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Research Center, Archives, Helena, Montana.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is organized into three subgroups: Glendive District Office, and the district area offices in Wolf Point and Miles City.

Location of Collection

40:7-2

Processing Note

In 2024, the various collections of the Montana Department of Transportation were integrated under one collection identifier, RS 492, in order to help facilitate access, reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog, and to follow best archival practices.

Collections from Montana Department of Transportation's various Divisions and Bureaus that were previously treated as separate entities are now integrated into this collection, RS 492. Rather than reprocessing over 280 linear feet of Transportation materials, MTHS staff decided to keep the past arrangement of those collections/finding aids, and provide access to them via links through the central finding aid. This decision has allowed the MTHS archival staff to maintain intellectual control over the collection, while removing the need to reprocess it. It also keeps State Agency finding aids at manageable sizes. Please read the scope and content note carefully to determine if this subgroup/sub-subgroup pertains to your research needs.

Acquisition Information

Acquisition information available upon request

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Glendive District Office, 1966-1973Return to Top

The Glendive District Office Files consist of Correspondence (1950-2001) and Meeting Minutes (1950-2001) kept by the district engineer. The Meeting Minutes are predominately District Staff Meetings, but also include some Maintenance and Administrative Staff Meetings as well as some Reports.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Correspondence
Box/Folder
1/1	Correspondence Index for 1950-1973	1973
1/2-12	General	1950-1984
	Meeting Minutes
Box/Folder
1/13-27	District Staff Meetings	1966, 1985-1986, 1994-1997, 1997-2001

Miles City Area Office, 1939-1982Return to Top

The Miles City Area Office Files include construction diaries (1939-1956) and subject files (1940-1982). The construction diaries document the daily construction activities of the project engineers for Miles City. The subject files consist of reference materials, correspondence, memos, and some general personnel files kept by the district engineer.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Subject Files
Box/Folder
1/28	Federal and State Regulation of Planning And Preconstruction Process	1980
1/29	State Highway Commission Inspectors Handbook for Construction and Certification	1967
1/30	Montana Standard Specifications for Road and Bridge Construction	1940
1/31	Highway Department Engineering Personnel and Constitution	1947
1/32	Personnel and Pay Plan	1973-1982
1/33	Personnel	1953-1972
1/34	Construction Equipment and Fuel	1945-1954
2/1	Right of Way and Secondary Roads Memos	1953-1968

Archives West Finding Aid

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