Petroleum County Community Library
The Pages of Time is available digitally - contact us!
The Petroleum County Community Library is online with the Montana Shared Catalog!
Resources
Pages of Time
Family History Archive
Winnett Times
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Winnett Cemetery Burial List
Local Historical Publications
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Quick History of the County
Pages of Time
When projects for Montana’s 1989 centennial celebration were being considered, many people suggested a book be written about Petroleum County. In April 1987, the public library board of trustees voted to sponsor the writing of such a history book. From the beginning, it was hoped the book could be more than a collection of homestead memories. The goal of the trustees was to publish a book which would outline the entire history of the Petroleum County area and one which would become a reliable reference for factual information about the county.
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Pages of Time is accessible from the Montana Historical Society Montana Memory Project here.
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Contact the Petroleum County Library if you are interested in saveable or printable digital files.
Pages of Time: Introduction
Chapter 1: Ashley-Drulett
Chapter 2: Blakeslee-Staff-Welter
Chapter 3: Brush Creek-Rural North Winnett
Chapter 4: Cat Creek-Jitney-Shay
Chapter 5: Dovetail-Valentine
Chapter 6: Flatwillow-Lone Prairie-Wallview-Yellow Water
Chapter 7: Kelley-Burgeton
Chapter 8: Musselshell River-Missouri River
Chapter 9: Petrolia-Hoyle-Smith-Rural Southeast Winnett
Chapter 10: Teigen-Elk Creek-Rural Southwest Winnett
Chapter 11: Winnett Intro
Winnett A-J
Winnett J-Z
Appendices and Index
Family History Archive
The Petroleum County Community Library houses the photo and document archive for the area. Extensive newspaper and photo files exist for Winnett and sourrounding communities as well as family files.
Follow the links to search what is available in our archives. Please contact us with any questions.
Access the index to our files here:
as an excel file
as a pdf file
Winnett Times
The first edition of the Winnett Times ran in September of 1914 and the Library has a paper or digital copy of almost every edition until the Winnett Times quit being printed in Winnett in 1986.
The Library has had the Winnett Times volumes scanned from 1921 - the 1980s. Visit or contact the library if you would like to puruse the Winnett Times.
Winnett Times
December 13, 1916
Winnett Cemetery
In 1916, Mr. Walter Winnett donated five acres to the Winnett Cemetery Association, which incorporated for the purpose of, “procuring and holding of lands to be used exclusively as a public cemetery or place of burial of the dead.”
The roster of original Winnett Cemetery Association members reads like a “who’s who” of early day influential people in the Winnett area – Alexander, Winnett, Geis, Rasmussen, Woods, and more.
The Winnett Cemetery Association operates under the original by-laws and is governed by a volunteer
board. All maintenance and administration of the Cemetery is done through this volunteer board.
Recently, the cemetery has seen some restoration work – a land surveyor marked each row, an archaeological survey identified unmarked graves, the Winnett High School has been making new grave markers for previously unmarked graves, and the records of burials have been reconciled. Contact the Winnett Cemetery Association by calling Petroleum County Clerk and Recorder – 406-429-5311.
Local Publications
For more information, contact the Library about obtaining a copy of, And the Meadowlark Still Sings, and Petroleum County: A Brief History in Images.
