Whitefish (Salish: epɫx̣ʷy̓u, "has whitefish") is a city in Flathead County, Montana, United States. According to the 2020 United States census, there were 7,751 people in the city.
History
Archaeological records indicate that native American tribes shared hunting grounds in the area, most notably the Kutenai, the Pend d'Oreilles, and the Bitterroot Salish. The Kootenai lived in the area for more than 14,000 years, inhabiting the mountainous terrain west of the Continental Divide, and traveled east of the divide for occasional buffalo hunts. Though trappers, traders, and waves of westward immigrants passed through the area during the second half of the century, and a group of Métis (mixed race descendants of fur traders, trappers and Native Americans) lived around the site of Whitefish (later largely moving south to the Flathead Indian Reservation), the first permanent settler is identified as John Morton who built a cabin on the shore of Whitefish Lake, just west of the mouth of the Whitefish River. Morton was joined by the local logging industry forefathers—including the Baker and Hutchinson brothers—in the early 1890s. Logging crews "boomed-up" their logs behind a dam built at the river mouth by the Boston & Montana Commercial Company, which, when opened, created a rush of water that helped float the logs down the river to Kalispell. and automatically became a city when its population reached 1,000 residents by 1910.
The area was originally known as Stumptown due to the abundant amount of timber that had to be cleared to build the railroad and town, and because tree stumps were left in the streets throughout downtown. Early residents of the town worked in nearby logging industries and for the railroad. Some of the city's railroad workers were injured and two died in the 1966 Great Northern Buelow collision, an accident that affected many in the area. In 2006, more than 68,000 passengers embarked and disembarked through the historic Whitefish Depot, a major stop on Amtrak's Empire Builder line, with many of those passengers headed to the ski resort on Big Mountain and Glacier National Park.
Skiing has been part of the Whitefish area for more than 50 years. In 1937, the Whitefish Lake Ski Club obtained a special permit from the U.S. Forest Service that enabled them to build cabins and trails in the Hell Roaring Creek atea. Great Falls businessmen Ed Schenck and George Prentice recognized the area's potential and, after World War II, began efforts to develop a full-fledged ski resort on the mountain with local people donating labor, preparing the slopes, even giving up free time to help push through an all-weather mountain road. On December 14, 1947, Schenck, Prentice, and a thousand townsfolk stood on the newly christened ski resort's slopes to watch the brand new T-Bar lift bring their community vision to life. The Whitefish Mountain Resort, built with community effort, attracted visitors.
The city started a curfew siren in 1919 that they called the "ding-dong ordinance". The historic siren was restored to the new city hall in 2017.
Geography
The town is located on the western side of the continental divide, near Glacier National Park. Whitefish Lake is a natural lake with maximum length and width and is at its deepest. The Whitefish River bisects the town of Whitefish as it courses south by southeast to briefly join the Stillwater River before its flows enter the Flathead River.
The historic district of Whitefish is a neighborhood called "The Avenues". This neighborhood is bordered by East 2nd Street to the north, Kalispell Avenue to the west, East 7th Street to the south, and Pine Avenue to the east. It is next to downtown, with many of its houses on the historic registry.
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Whitefish has a humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. Large seasonal temperature differences typify this climatic region, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters.