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Missoula

Missoula, Montana
City
City of Missoula
Downtown Missoula
Missoula, Montana
Official seal of Missoula, Montana
Seal
Nickname(s): The Garden City
Motto: "The Discovery Continues"
Location of Missoula in Missoula County and Montana
Location of Missoula in Missoula County and Montana
Location of Montana
Location of Montana
Coordinates: 46°51′45″N 114°0′42″W / 46.86250°N 114.01167°W / 46.86250; -114.01167Coordinates: 46°51′45″N 114°0′42″W / 46.86250°N 114.01167°W / 46.86250; -114.01167
Country United States
State Montana
County Missoula
Founded 1866
Incorporated (town) March 8, 1883
Incorporated (city) March 12, 1885
Founded by
Government
 • Type Mayor–Council
 • Body Missoula City Council
 • Mayor John Engen (D)
Area
 • City 29.08 sq mi (75.3 km2)
 • Land 28.90 sq mi (74.9 km2)
 • Water 0.184 sq mi (0.48 km2)
 • Urban 45.43 sq mi (117.7 km2)
 • Metro 2,618 sq mi (6,780 km2)
Elevation 3,209 ft (978 m)
Population (2010)
 • City 66,788
 • Estimate (2015) 71,022
 • Rank US: 494th
 • Density 2,416/sq mi (932.8/km2)
 • Metro 114,181 (US: 336th)
Time zone Mountain (UTC-7)
 • Summer (DST) Mountain (UTC-6)
ZIP code 59801–59804, 59806–59808
University of Montana ZIP code 59812
Area code 406
FIPS code 30-50200
GNIS feature ID 0787504
Highways I-90.svg US 12.svg US 93.svg MT-200.svg
Website ci.missoula.mt.us

Missoula Listeni/mˈzlə/ is a city in the U.S. state of Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. It is located along the Clark Fork River near its confluences with the Bitterroot and Blackfoot Rivers in western Montana and at the convergence of five mountain ranges, thus is often described as the "hub of five valleys". In 2015, the United States Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 71,022 and the population of the Missoula Metropolitan Area at 114,181. In the 1990s, Missoula overtook Great Falls as Montana’s second‑largest city, behind Billings. Missoula is home to the University of Montana, a public research university.

Missoula was founded in 1860 as Hellgate Trading Post while still part of Washington Territory. By 1866, the settlement had moved east, 5 miles (8 km) upstream, and renamed Missoula Mills, later shortened to Missoula. The mills provided supplies to western settlers traveling along the Mullan Road. The establishment of Fort Missoula in 1877 to protect settlers further stabilized the economy. The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1883 brought rapid growth and the maturation of the local lumber industry. In 1893, the Montana Legislature chose the city as the site for the state's first university. Along with the U.S. Forest Service headquarters founded in 1908, lumber and the university remained staples of the local economy for the next hundred years.


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