The Grant Creek area is a neighborhood in northwest Missoula, Montana. It was named after Captain Richard Grant, an engineer who helped build Mullan Road in 1859 and 1860. After the road was completed, Grant settled on the creek that now bears his name. His daughter, Julia, eventually married Christopher Powers Higgins, one of the founders of Missoula. In 1884, another notable Missoulian settled with his family in Grant Creek: John Rankin. Rankin's sawmill at Grant Creek was one of the first mills in western Montana, and provided the lumber for many of Missoula's original buildings. His daughter, Jeanette, was the first woman to serve in the United States Congress. Another prominent resident of the area was Simon Hellman, a foreman for the Northern Pacific Railroad, who homesteaded 160 acres in Grant Creek. By the 1890s, the population of Grant Creek Valley had grown rapidly, and the Grant Creek School was established in 1897. After the turn of the century, consolidation of land ownership in Grant Creek accelerated as Charles Quast, a German immigrant, acquired large parcels of land in the valley for dairy farming. Quast Dairy became one of the largest dairies in Missoula County. A decline in student enrollment closed the Grant Creek School in 1947, but Quast's dairy operations continued until the mid-1950s.
The Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs consists of 26 images of some of the most notable residents of the Grant Creek area of Missoula, Montana, including the Hellman family, the Rankin family, and the Quast family. The images range in date from approximately 1900 to 1980. The collection also includes depiction of Grant Creek School. The format of the photographs is 4" x 5" negative.
This collection is arranged by photo number.
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and The University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.
Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, The University of Montana-Missoula.
The custodial history of this collection is unknown; it is presumed that a descendent of Simon Hellman held the photographs based on references in the captions.
The immediate source of acquistion of this collection is unknown. The collection was likely placed with the Archives in 1981.
These images were originally placed in the Archives’ general photo collection and assigned photo numbers. In 2022, they were processed as the Collection of Grant Creek, Montana Area Photographs (Mss 368).
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Top row: Henry, Mamie; middle row: Grandpa, George; front row: Minnie, Emma, Grandma (holding Bert)
Left to right: Helen Neal, Margaret Kiernes, and Endora Henry
In 1908, Oliver Rankin sold it to Charles Quast. In 1956, it was sold to the Marbut family and has since been remodled. Margaret Wedel Quast (Mrs. Charles Quast) pictured
Patent from U.S. government received on April 11, 1898; Harold and Mamie Neal with their son Howard (on wagon) pictured
Grant Creek School, the year the district was abandoned, before it was used as machine shed
Left to right: Howard Neal amd John Ryan
Left to right: Julie Knuchel Lunde, Helen Neal Gray, Mary Ryan, Fred Knuchel, Billy Toner, and Francis Ryan
Two men and a woman sit on chairs in front of a wood-frame building. A woman stands behind one of the men, and a young man or boy sits of the porch behind the standing woman
Four children posed for a photograph; one is Dan Ryan
Group of kids and teacher standing on the porch; small girl in photograph is holding a sign that says: "Missoula County Free Library"
The woman and other man in the photograph are not identified. A portion of a wood building is visible, and wash hangs from a clothes line
A crowd is assembled near the school
Group of ten people standing on or near the front porch