MTLRS419.xml Guide to the Montana Department of Highways, Right of Way Bureau records 1912-1987 Montana Department of Highways, Right of Way Bureau Finding aid prepared by Rachel Lilley; Updated by Lindsey Mick Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) Montana Historical Society Research Center 2013; 2024 Finding aid encoded by Kathryn Kramer; Updated by Lindsey Mick2013; 2024 Finding aid written in English. Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard). Montana Historical Society Archives RS 419_RS 492 Montana. Department of Highways. Department of Highways, Right of Way Bureau records 1912-1987 44.2 linear feet This collection is a sub-subgroup (Bureau) of the Montana Department of Transportation records, RS 492. It currently operates under the Engineering Division. Please see the primary finding aid for more Montana Department of Transportation records. This collection (1912-1987) consists primarily of official deeds, documenting the transfer of land from private citizens to both the Department of Highways for highway projects and several railway companies. 41:1-3 English

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.

This collection consists primarily of subject files containing deeds to lands purchased by the Department of Highways in order to complete highways projects. The deeds in boxes 42 and 43 represent later additions to the Right-of-Way Bureau records, and thus are out of chronological order. Deeds in Box 42 consist primarily of deeds made by land owners, between 1912 and 1960, to the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway Company, and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and Puget Sound Railway Company.

This collection is arranged by series.

Collection is open for research.

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.

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.

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

Acquisition information available upon request

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.

Roads Construction projects--United States Deeds--Montana Montana Detailed Description of the Collection Series I: Department of Highways, Right of Way Bureau Subject Files 1 Deeds: # 42 – 533 1927 December–1929 April 2 Deeds: # 534 – 1052 1929 April–1929 November 3 Deeds: # 1053 – 1572 1929 November–1930 October 4 Deeds: # 1573 – 2229 1930 October–1931 April 5 Deeds: # 2230 – 2936 1931 April–1931 November 6 Deeds: # 2937 – 5663 1931 December–1934 December 7 Deeds: # 5664 – 7110 1934 December–1936 November 8 Deeds: # 7111 – 8520 1936 November–1939 August 9 Deeds: # 8521 – 9900 1939 July–1941 May 10 Deeds: # 9901 – 11300 1941 May–1945 September 11 Deeds: # 11301 – 12655 1945 September–1948 August 12 Deeds: # 12656 – 13855 1948 July–1950 November 13 Deeds: # 13856 – 15355 1950 November–1953 April 14 Deeds: # 15356 – 16855 1953 April–1954 October 15 Deeds: # 16856 – 18255 1954 September–1955 December 16 Deeds: # 18256 – 19655 1955 December–1957 February 17 Deeds: # 19656 – 21055 1957 February–1958 July 18 Deeds: # 21056 – 22455 1958 June–1959 June 19 Deeds: # 22456 – 23755 1959 June–1960 August 20 Deeds: # 23756 – 24911 1960 August–1961 October 21 Deeds: # 24912 – 26311 1961 October–1962 November 22 Deeds: # 26312 – 27661 1962 November–1963 December 23 Deeds: # 27652 – 29051 1963 November–1964 September 24 Deeds: # 29052 – 30251 1964 September–1965 July 25 Deeds: # 30252 – 31411 1965 July–1966 August 26 Deeds: # 31412 – 32514 1966 September–1968 January 27 Deeds: # 32515 – 33600 1968 January–1969 June 28 Deeds: # 33601 – 34830 1969 June–1971 January 29 Deeds: # 34831 – 35650 1971 January–1971 September 30 Deeds: # 35651 – 36630 1971 September–1972 October 31 Deeds: # 36631 – 37230 1972 September–1974 January 32 Deeds: # 37231 – 37810 1974 January–1975 May 33 Deeds: # 37811 – 38500 1976 May–September 34 Deeds: # 38501 – 39200 1976 September–1978 March 35 Deeds: # 39201 – 39770 1978 March–1979 August 36 Deeds: # 39826 – 40420 1979 October–1981 March 37 Deeds: # 40421 – 41100 1981 March–1982 November 38 Deeds: # 41101 – 41850 1982 November–1984 March 39 Deeds: # 41851 – 42427 1984 March–1985 April 40 Deeds: # 42428 – 42799 1985 May-1986 September 41 Deeds: # 42800 – 43147 1986 September–1987 September 42/1-3 Deeds - Railway: #9452 – 10583 (Choteau Co.) 1912–1960 42/4-10 Deeds - Railway: # 2103 – 4744 (Fergus Co.) 1912–1930 43 Deeds cards: # 11967 – 43416 1947 April–1987 September 44 Maps – I-15, I-90, I-94 (large format) 1967 45 “Montana Septic System Requirements – Part I – III 1979–1987 46/1 Deeds: DNRC 1986 46/2 Correspondence 1962–1968 46/3 Correspondence: Road abandonment 1976-1980 46/4 Livestock and Vehicular Underpasses Supplement undated 46/5 Livestock and Vehicular Underpasses Reports and photos undated 46/6 Montana Land Economic Study – Studies #1-10 circa 1964 46/7 Montana Land Economic Study – Studies #11-18 1964 46/8 Montana Land Economic Study – Studies # 22-30 1964 – 1965 46/9 Montana Land Economic Study – Studies # 31-40 1965 46/10 Montana Land Economic Study – Studies # 41-51 1965 – 1967 46/11 Montana State University – Land Economic Research 1966-1970 46/12 Interstate completion estimate 1970 46/13 Interstate completion estimate – I- 15, I-90, I-94 1970 46/14 Interstate completion estimate – I- 15, I-90, I-94 1972 42/15 Interstate completion estimate 1972 46/16 Montana Highway Commission News Roundup 1970-1972 46/17 Underpass Study Research 1966-1969 46/18 Structure inventories – Billings, Butte, Glendive, Great Falls, Missoula 1970 46/19 Maps – I-15 1969 46/20 Maps – I-90 1960, 1969 46/21 Maps – I-94 1960, 1970 Reports 47/1-2 Right of Way Division Manual 1968-1980