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 Governor Forrest H. Anderson 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.
The Department of Highways was renamed the Department of Transportation after an organizational change in 1991. As of 2024, the Department of Transportation contains ten Divisions: Director's Office, Administration, Aeronautics, Engineering, Human Resources and Occupational Safety, Information Services, Maintenance, Motor Carrier Services, Rail, Transit & Planning, and Professional Services.
Several of these Divisions also contain distinct Bureaus, Programs, Offices, or Units. The
Director's Office oversees Administrative District Offices, including Billings District,
Butte District, Glendive District, Great Falls District and Missoula District; the
Administration Division oversees the Fiscal Operations Bureau and the Mail and File Unit
(defunct); Engineering oversees the Bridge Bureau, Construction Engineering Services, among
others; Rail, Transit & Planning formerly oversaw the now-defunct Rail Planning Unit,
among others; and Professional Services oversees the Office of Legal Services and the Office
of Civil Rights. For a full list of current Divisions, Bureaus, and Transportation staff,
visit the
This collection contains records from various Divisions, Bureaus, and Programs within the Montana Department of Transportation. The Montana Department of Transportation records were integrated under one collection number to help facilitate access and reduce redundancy in the MTHS catalog. At this time, collections processed under the former State Highway Commission have not been integrated into this finding aid.
Some sub-subgroups seen here (typically Bureaus, Programs or Units within Divisions) were
processed together with the Division records, while others were processed as separate
entities.
To learn more detail about the records in each subgroup or sub-subgroup, please click on the links below in the arrangement section to be redirected to those finding aids.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Director's Office Division. It includes correspondence, subject files, reports, and minutes from 1956 to 2001. This Division also contains records from the Organizational Development Bureau (1994-1996), as these records were previously processed as one collection. Records from this Bureau include a program survey and miscellaneous files of the Engineering Training Technical Committee & Safety Advisory Council.
This subgroup contains the sub-subgroup for the Media-Contact/Public Involvement office. The functions of the Public Affairs Bureau are currently being carried out by the Media-Contact/Public Involvement office. The materials for this sub-subgroup include the Information Unit files (1969-1994), the Public Affairs Bureau files (1991-1995), and the Public Information Officer files (1996-1999), all of which mostly consist of subject files.
This Division also contains five sub-subgroups from the District Administrator office, and includes records from the Billings (1947-2001), Butte (1983-1989), Glendive (1939-2001), Great Falls (1935-1991), and Missoula (1927-1988) District Offices. The District sub-subgroups contain correspondence, subject files, reports, minutes, and/or other materials.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Administration Division (1946-2001). It contains correspondence, reports, minutes, manuals, and subject files.
This subgroup contains two sub-subgroups, the Financial Operations Bureau (1988-1992), which consists primarily of monthly fiscal reports, and the now defunct Mail and File Unit (1935-1979) which consists of subject files.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Aeronatics Division (1919-1995) and includes correspondence, case files, minutes, reports, subject files, project files, and miscellany.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Engineering Division (1955-1989). It includes general correspondence (1969-1987) of the Division Administrator and Assistant Administrator; a file (1956-1965) on the Division's occupancy of offices in the State Laboratory Building; Division staff meeting minutes (1981-1985, 1988-1989), monthly construction reports (1979), and engineering reports (1958-1977).
This Division consists of nine sub-subgroups: Bridge Bureau, Construction Engineering Services (CES) Bureau, Photogrammetry and Survey Unit, Materials Bureau, Right of Way Bureau, Traffic and Safety Bureau, Planning and Research Bureau (defunct), Preconstruction Bureau (defunct), and Outdoor Advertising Control (OAC) Program (Program responsibilities transferred to the Right of Way Bureau). Records in the Bridge Bureau (1919-2003) document the construction, repair, and inspection of bridges and associated structures (abutments, etc.) around Montana from the late 1910s to the 2000s, and are comprised of correspondence, diaries, minutes, and subject files. Records in the Construction Engineering Services Bureau (1919-1980) contain primarily subject files. Materials in the Photogrammetry and Survey Unit (1956-1982) consist of project files, which include related aerial photographs, with monitoring reports, level notes, and some correspondence.
Records in the Materials Bureau (1979-1984) consist of subject files related to the Pavement Management System (PMS). The sub-subgroup, Right of Way Bureau (1912-1987 and 1955-1991), consists of two different collections, as they were previously processed separately and have not yet been integrated. The materials contain official deeds, documenting the transfer of land from private citizens to both the Department of Transportation for highway projects, and several railway companies, as well as testimony transcripts, hearings, abstracts of title to lands taken by condemnation, quarterly reports, subject files, and more. Materials from the Traffic & Safety Bureau (1957-2002) consist primarily of subject files dealing with highway safety topics, including highway employee training and safety, and the safety of citizens travelling on Montana highways.
Records in the Planning and Research Bureau (1918-1984, Bureau now defunct) include correspondence, financial records, organizational records, reports, subject files, and miscellany. This sub-subgroup also contains records from the Montana Highway Planning Survey, which later became the Planning and Research Bureau. Records in the Preconstruction Bureau (1954-1998, defunct) consist of public hearings for various roads projects, files of Bureau Chief Steve Kologi, and the work of the Preconstruction Bureau’s Environmental Landscape Unit. Also included are the Libby Dam Project Files. Records from the Outdoor Advertising Control (OAC) Program (1966-1995, Program defunct, responsibilities transferred to Right of Way Bureau) contain general correspondence, case files, reports, subject files and miscellaneous.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Information Services Division (1989-1996), previously named the Information Services Bureau. It consists of correspondence, meeting minutes and subject files. Significant topics covered include the establishment of an Executive Information System (EIS), as well as the Budget Development System.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Maintenance Division (1927-2001), and consists of correspondence, complaint files, flood files, historical markers files, signing and landmark files, inspector field journals, meeting minutes, and subject files. Topics include the statewide installation of fiber-optic cable through “Touch America” and AT&T, the Kootenai Hydroelectric Facility Project, and aerial photographs of Seeley-Swan Highway.
This Division contains one sub-subgroup, the Communications Bureau (1948-1980). Records include general correspondence, interoffice correspondence, and subject files relating to the Department's statewide communications system, including base station cost estimates and reports, information about Teletype machines used by Montana state agencies, and information about radio towers.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Gross Vehicle Weight Division (GVW) (1967-1991), whose functions are currently being carried out by the Motor Carrier Services Division). It consists of general correspondence (including interoffice memos with the director and with the legal division), administrative staff meeting minutes, GVW staff minutes, annual reports, and subject files, including a file on the Consolidated Man Power Estimating System (1988), files on the Montana Log Truckers Association, organizational charts and reorganization files, a file on a proposed weight distance tax, HB 985 (1991), and a "Gross Vehicle Weight Manual" (1974).
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the Rail, Transit and Planning Divison (1936-1994). This subgroup is organized into five series: Planning and Stastics Bureau, Planning and Programming Division, Transportation Planning Division, Urban Planning Section, and Multimodal Planning (this Division and these five sub-subgroups were originally processed as one collection). Materials consist of subject files containing correspondence, reports, minutes, and miscellany.
This subgroup also contains records for the sub-subgroup, Rail Planning Unit (1965-1994), which was originally processed separately. Records consist of reports and files for the Montana State Rail Plan (1977-1982), plus numbered ICC dockets on railroad abandonment, Milwaukee Road abandonment files, Burlington Northern files, and related materials (primarily 1980s). It also includes correspondence concerning the Milwaukee Railroad Right of Way.
This subgroup is arranged into two sub-subgroups: The Office of Legal Services and Office of Civil Rights. A large portion of the Office of Legal Services (1956-1996, formerly named Legal Services Unit) is comprised of correspondence between various MDT divisions/bureaus and Legal Services, requesting opinions on legal cases, legislation, proposed projects and contracts. Also included are subject files dealing with specific cases being handled by Legal Services staff lawyers. The Office of Civil Rights records (1990-1995, formerly named Civil Rights Bureau) consist of subject files, mostly related to the Civil Rights Manual.
This subgroup contains records from the Aeronautics Board, formerly named Aeronautics
Commission (1945-1967) and consists of correspondence, minutes, reports, and subject files.
There are also records for the Montana Aviation History Project, headed by Frank W. Wiley,
consisting of research materials used in compiling the book
This subgroup (1913-2006) contains records from the Transportation Commission, formerly the State Highway Commission. It consists of correspondence, ledgers, meeting minutes, and subject files. The meeting minutes, which are available online on the Montana History Portal (MHP), detail the state-wide projects overseen by the Highway Commission and its successor, the Montana Transportation Commission. The subject files are primarily related to the design and construction of the Missouri River Wolf Point Bridge. Additionally, the three ledgers detail the Commissions' involvement in Federal Aid projects across the state.
This subgroup contains records related to the (defunct) Centralized Services Division, which dissolved in 1990 and was replaced by the Administrative Division. It contains two separate collections, as they were initially processed separately and have not yet been integrated. Materials consist of interoffice correspondence, minutes of various divisional meetings, monthly activity reports, and subject files concerning various task forces and information regarding the computer system, among other topics.
This subgroup contains records pertaining to the (defunct) Program Development Division (1955-1997). It consists of correspondence, reports, subject files and ledgers. Significant subjects covered include Federal-Aid funding and allocation; planning reports, including six year plans; and area-specific projects and budget allocation. One ledger is also included (1956-1959).
This collection is organized into 13 subgroups, represented by the Divisions/Boards within
or related to the Department of Transportation. There are several sub-subgroups, often
Bureaus, Programs, Offices, or Units that operate within a Division.
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Collection is open for research.
The Montana Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Library & Archives 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.
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
Each of the links above will redirect the user to a specific subgroup (Division) or
sub-subgroup (Bureau, Program, Office, or Unit) of the Montana Department of Transportation.
There may be some overlap or inconsistencies in terms of which records are in which subgroup
or sub-subgroup, as these collections have
Please visit the specific pages for the subgroups or sub-subgroups for citation information.
Acquisition information available upon request. Each subgroup has distinct acquisitions information.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the Montana Historical Society Archives catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search under these terms.