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 was headed by an administrator. The Centralized Services Division, Engineering Division, Motor Pool Division, Gross Vehicle Weight Division, and the Maintenance Division were furthered sub-divided into bureaus, headed by Chiefs. In 1991, the Department of Highways became the Department of Transportation.
At present, the Right-of-Way Bureau is under the umbrella of the Preconstruction Program, which administers the Highways Bureau, Bridge Bureau, Consultant Design Bureau, Traffic and Safety Bureau, Environmental Services Bureau, and the Engineering Information Management Section. Both historically and currently, it has been the Right-of-Way Bureau’s primary function to acquire land for highways, and deal legally with previous acquisitions of land. It also provides assistance and payments to individuals and businesses relocated by highways, designs the right-of-way, and arranges for relocating utilities that conflict with highway construction.
These records of the Montana Dept. of Highways, Right of Way Bureau consist of transcripts of testimony from two condemnation suits (Montana vs. J. Paul Kleffner, 1963, and Montana vs. Frank H. Albee, 1960); transcripts from an appraisal hearing (Alfred Nelson hearing, 1960); abstracts of title to lands taken by condemnation for lode claims in Butte (1927-1954), for the Crosby Addition in Butte (1953), for the Montana Addition in Missoula (1952), and for sections in Rosebud, Yellowstone, and Fergus counties (1949-1958); correspondence of the bureau, 1956-1991; minutes of meetings, 1964-1988; quarterly reports, 1983-1988; subject files, 1959-1991; and policy/procedure manuals, 1955-1991. Also included are records (1977-1986) of the Utilities Section including correspondence and subject files re railroad crossings.
Arranged at the collection level.
Collection open for research.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of the Montana Historical Society Library & Archives. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collection. In some cases permission for use may require additional authorization from the copyright owners. For more information contact an archivist.
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
Item description and date. Collection Title. Collection Number. Box and Folder numbers. Montana Historical Society Library & Archives, Helena, Montana.
Acquisition information available upon request.
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