Rexford (Mont.) Collection, 1903-1912

A new branch line of the Great Northern Railroad provided the impetus for founding Rexford, Montana in 1903. The Rexford Townsite Company dealt with the initial steps from legalities to laying out the streets and land sales. Five men owned two-thirds of the stock in this company. Leon N. Brown, the company secretary, became co-proprietor of Brown & Fewkes (general merchandise) in Rexford, Montana. Charles B. Kemp, a company director, owned substantial property in nearby Libby, Montana. Allen B. Johnston, a company director, moved to Libby, Montana, in 1892 and was active in merchandising, real estate, politics, and mining. Walter H. Griffin, a company director, owned an established and respected insurance and real estate company in Kalispell, Montana. George Francis Stannard, a company director and a partner of Griffin's since 1892, was born on the Island of Guernsey in the English Channel in 1860. Stannard, a notably successful Montana resident, dealt in insurance real estate, and mining as well as acquiring substantial property in the Flathead Valley.

Early citizens of Rexford, Montana, could travel by railroad or water as the town was near Kootenay Lake but Rexford was not connected to Libby, Montana, by a road until 1924. While the road must have brought changes to Rexford, the greatest change came in the late 1960s when the Corps of Engineers relocated the entire town above the old townsite which was covered with water by the reservoir created with the building of Libby Dam.