Three Forks, Gallatin County, Montana
| Three Forks, Montana | |
|---|---|
| City | |
Three Forks and the Tobacco Root Mountains
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 Location of Three Forks, Montana |
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| Coordinates: 45°53′29″N 111°33′6″W / 45.89139°N 111.55167°WCoordinates: 45°53′29″N 111°33′6″W / 45.89139°N 111.55167°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Montana |
| County | Gallatin |
| Government | |
| • Type | Montana Incorporated City, Elected Mayor and City Council |
| • Mayor | Steven B. Hamilton |
| Area | |
| • Total | 1.50 sq mi (3.88 km2) |
| • Land | 1.44 sq mi (3.73 km2) |
| • Water | 0.06 sq mi (0.16 km2) |
| Elevation | 4,075 ft (1,242 m) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 1,869 |
| • Estimate (2015) | 1,926 |
| • Density | 1,297.9/sq mi (501.1/km2) |
| Time zone | Mountain (MST) (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| ZIP code | 59752 |
| Area code(s) | 406 |
| FIPS code | 30-73975 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0777603 |
| Website | http://www.threeforksmontana.us |
Three Forks is a city in Gallatin County, Montana, United States and is located within the watershed valley system of both the Missouri and Mississippi rivers drainage basins — and is historically considered the birthplace or start of the Missouri River. The population was 1,869 at the 2010 census. The city of Three Forks is named so because it lies geographically near the point, in nearby Missouri Headwaters State Park, where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers converge to form the Missouri River — the longest single river in North America, as well as the major portion of the Missouri-Mississippi River System from the headwaters near Three Forks to its discharge into the Gulf of Mexico. Three Forks is part of the Bozeman, MT Micropolitan Statistical Area of approximately 100,000 people and the greater Bozeman demographic area of approximately 125,000 people.
The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin which was in the times the genesis of a mild controversy and eventually spawned a modern day geographical controversy—in both cases regarding length comparisons between the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. Today the two confluences are incorporated inside Missouri Headwaters State Park, which is also a U.S. National Historic Landmark.
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