West Glacier is a small unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in eastern Flathead County

Flathead County, Montana

-National protected areas:* Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail * Flathead National Forest * Glacier National Park * Kootenai National Forest * Lolo National Forest * Lost Trail National Wildlife Refuge-Demographics:...

, Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The town is at the west entrance to Glacier National Park and is located on U.S. Route 2

U.S. Route 2

U.S. Route 2 is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada...

 and a main line of the BNSF Railway

BNSF Railway

The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...

. The headquarters complex for Glacier National Park is located nearby. The community, heavily dependent on tourism, has a small permanent population that expands significantly during the summer tourist season; most area businesses are likewise seasonal, and primarily geared towards travelers. The elevation is 3,169 feet.

History

Remote and almost inaccessible, the West Glacier area drew only limited attention by white settlers until the main line of the Great Northern Railway was completed through the area in 1893. The railroad established a station named "Belton" at the current West Glacier site, and a small community slowly began to develop in the area. A post office

Post office

A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...

 was established at Belton in 1900. The number of homesteaders and other settlers remained small, however, due to the region's rugged, heavily forested terrain.

By the early twentieth century a small number of tourists had begun to visit the spectacular mountain landscapes east and north of Belton, and in 1910 that area was set aside as Glacier National Park. As the railway station nearest the area, Belton became a primary gateway to Glacier, and the park headquarters was established there. That year the Great Northern constructed a small hotel complex in town, called the Belton Chalets

Belton Chalets

The Belton Chalets are a group of historic hotel buildings in the village of West Glacier, Montana, near the western entrance to Glacier National Park. The chalet buildings were built in 1910-11 by the Great Northern Railway as the first component of the railroad's ambitious program of hotel,...

, designed to serve early park visitors. The chalet survives today under new ownership, and is a registered National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

. http://www.beltonchalet.com/

The growth of tourist traffic through Belton increased substantially in the 1920s and 1930s, largely due to the improvement of automobile routes through the area. U.S. Highway 2 was completed eastward from Belton over Marias Pass

Marias Pass

Marias Pass is a high mountain pass near Glacier National Park in northwestern Montana in the United States.The pass traverses the continental divide in the Lewis Range, along the boundary between the Lewis and Clark National Forest and the Flathead National Forest...

 in 1930, and the Going-to-the-Sun Road

Going-to-the-Sun Road

Going-to-the-Sun Road is the only road through the heart of Glacier National Park in Montana, USA. It was completed in 1932, and it is the only road that crosses the park, going over the Continental Divide at Logan Pass. A fleet of 1930s red tour buses "jammers", rebuilt in 2001 to run on propane...

 was completed across Glacier Park in 1932. In 1938, a number of tourist-oriented businesses were constructed at the western end of the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Belton, forming the core of a new commercial district for the town. These businesses, owned by the Lundgren family since 1946, also remain today. http://www.westglacier.com/

The town of Belton was renamed "West Glacier" in 1949, to better reflect its geographic location and make it more identifiable to tourists, although the railroad station

West Glacier (Amtrak station)

West Glacier, Montana is a station stop for the Amtrak Empire Builder in West Glacier, Montana. The station building, constructed in 1910 and enlarged in 1935, was donated to the Glacier Natural History Association in 1991 and now houses the offices and bookstore of that organization. Amtrak...

and chalet complex retained the Belton name.