Harlowton is a city in and the county seat of Wheatland County, Montana, United States. The population was 955 at the 2020 census.
The city was once the eastern terminus of electric operations (1914–74) for the "Pacific Extension" of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road"). Here, steam or diesel locomotives were changed or hooked up to electric locomotives for trip through the Rocky Mountains to Avery, Idaho. Harlowton was founded in 1900 as a station stop on the Montana Railroad, a predecessor to the Milwaukee, and was named for Richard A. Harlow, the Montana Railroad's president.
History
thumb|Welcome Monument -- Electric Switch Engine E57B
The Upper Musselshell River Valley is named for the Musselshell River, which got its name from the large number of freshwater mussels found in its river bed. In the fall and winter weather, the bison would migrate to the lower altitudes along the Musselshell River. Early plains hunters, taking advantage of the large bison population, frequented this area. Some of the tribes that traveled through the area were the Crow, Blackfeet, Flathead, Gros Ventre, Northern Cheyenne, Nez Perce, Shoshones, Sioux, and Assiniboine.
The first sheep operation on the Upper Musselshell was started by P.J. Moore in 1878. The first large cattle operation in the area was the Chicago Montana Livestock Company in 1882, with S.S. Hobson as part owner and manager.
On February 22, the 1917 legislature passed an act which created Wheatland County from Meagher and Sweet Grass Counties. The act took effect on April 1, 1917. W
Wheatland was the first county in the US to go over its goal in the World War I Liberty Bond drive of 1918.
The Jawbone Creek Country Club is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the only golf course with a cemetery in it.
Merino
thumb|alt=Standing in the middle of the main street in the business district of Harlowton, with buildings on either side.|Looking down Central Ave
The town of Merino was officially established in 1881. The name Merino came from the breed of sheep (Merino) that were run in the area by Charles Severance at the time. The trading post owned by John and Archie McEachnie housed the post office, store and saloon. The Montana Railroad terminal was located one mile northwest of Merino, so it was decided to relocate the town site.
thumb|alt=Drone photo, looking west towards the mountains, with the buildings of Harlowton in the foreground.|Looking west in Harlowton, Montana
Milwaukee Road
In 1906, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") started building west with its route coming though Harlowton. On December 5, 1907, work was started on the Milwaukee Railroad Roundhouse in Harlowton. Milwaukee Road Historic District was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on July 8, 1988. The depot has been converted into the Harlowton Milwaukee Depot Museum.
Paleontology
The town of Harlowton is located in the Fort Union Geological formation and is famous for its Paleocene fossils. In 1902 Albert Silberling, a local homesteader and self-taught paleontologist, discovered the Douglass Quarry southwest of Harlowton. Albert Silberling and Earl Douglass, a Princeton University paleontologist, discovered fossil remains of primitive mammals including the Ptilodus, Phenacodus, and Plesiadapis in the quarries southwest of Harlowton.
The Rugocaudia cooneyi and Tatankacephalus cooneyorum are two new dinosaur species that were found southwest of Harlowton. The Rugocaudia cooneyi is a new sauropod dinosaur that was described and named by the paleontologist Cary Woodruff in 2012. The genus name Rugocaudia means “wrinkle tail” and the species name honors the landowner J. P. Cooney. The Tatankacephalus is a new ankylosaur dinosaur species found in 1997 by Bill and Kris Parsons, research associates of the Buffalo Museum of Science.
The Avaceratops lammersi dinosaur was found on the Lammers family Careless Creek Ranch northeast of Harlowton and is the first of its kind. The Aveceratops is a small horned dinosaur that belongs to the Ceratopsidaie family. Eddie and Ava Cole discovered the fossil remains in 1981. A cast of the Avaceratops lammersi is on display at the Upper Musselshell Museum in Harlowton.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Harlowton has a cold semi-arid climate, abbreviated "BSk" on climate maps.