Distinctly Montana Magazine

60 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 3 In addition to the county seat, Broadwater County has six communties, all classified as Cen- sus Designated Places. Of the six, two are historic towns south of Townsend. Rad- ersburg, with a 2020 population of 61, was the childhood home of actress Myrna Loy. Loy's mother preferred southern California to rugged Radersburg and took her daughter back and forth be- tween 1912 and 1918 when she moved to California permanently. The future actress may have attended school at Radersburg, whose school opened in 1913 and closed in 1966 with students going to Toston. Radersburg is also home to a Methodist church that Broth- er Van (William Wesley Van Orsdel) opened in 1914. Ten miles east of Radersburg, Toston sits on the banks of the Missouri River just off U.S. Highway 287. The truss bridge that crosses the river is on the National Register. Toston, like Raders- burg, owes its existence to the gold mines in the nearby hills. The Toston Smeltering Company processed ore for a short period in the late 1800s, but that was long enough to bring in a population that stayed on and farmed the area. With a 2020 census count of 100, Toston today is little more than a ghost town, but one more accessible than most. And as for the school? Any children from Radersburg and Toston now attend school in Townsend. Spokane Creek (2020 popula- tion 355), Win- ston (169), and The Silos (691) lie along U.S. Highway 12/287 19, 13 and 5 miles north of Townsend re- spectively. To my eye, Winston is the only one that looks like a town, and in- deed it has a post office that opened in 1892. The Silos takes its name from one of the most notable features in Broadwater County. Driving between Helena and Townsend, you cannot miss the two brick towers that rise between the highway and the lake. Montana historian and blogger Carroll Van West mentions how rancher A. B. Cook built the silos around 1920 to serve his sheep ranch. The ranch itself succumbed to the Canyon Ferry Reservoir in the mid-1950s, but the silos live on. They now mark an ever-growing residential area that includes a campground and marina on the lake. Two Missouri River communities no longer exist. North of Townsend, and on the east bank of the river, the Canton Val- ley was a thriving farm community until the waters behind the Canyon Ferry dam flooded the entire valley. St. Peter's Cath- olic Church was moved before it disappeared under the water and now stands, overlooking the lake, just a few miles outside Townsend. ST. PETER'S CATHOLIC CHURCH WAS MOVED BEFORE IT DISAPPEARED UNDER THE WATER AND NOW STANDS, OVER- LOOKING THE LAKE, JUST A FEW MILES OUTSIDE TOWNSEND.

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