Whitefish, Montana

The Great Northern Railway was built through what is now Whitefish in 1904, which sparked development of the town. The area was originally known as Stumptown due to the abundant amount of timber that had to be cleared to build the town and railroad and because tree stumps were left in the streets throughout downtown. Early residents of the town worked for the railroad and nearby logging industries. By the late 1940s, with the successful construction of a ski resort on Big Mountain (a collaboration among local businessmen) the tourism sector was becoming increasingly important. The community was named for its location near Whitefish Lake.

In 2006, over 68,000 passengers embarked and disembarked through the historic Whitefish Depot, a stop on Amtrak’s Empire Builder line, with some percentage of those being headed to the ski resort on Big Mountain.

Whitefish is located at 48°14′42″N 114°20′24″W (48.411772, -114.339865), at an altitude of 3,028 feet (923 m). The town is located on the western side of the continental divide, near Glacier National Park.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.80 square miles (30.56 km2), of which, 6.43 square miles (16.65 km2) is land and 5.37 square miles (13.91 km2) is water.

Whitefish Lake is a 5.2 square miles (13 km2) natural lake with maximum length 5.8 miles (9.3 km) and width 1.4 miles (2.3 km) and is 233 feet (71 m) at its deepest. The Whitefish River bisects the town of Whitefish as it courses south by southeast to briefly join the Stillwater River before its flows enter the Flathead River.

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Whitefish has a humid continental climate, abbreviated “Dfb” on climate maps. This climatic region is typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters.

Annual cultural events

Huckleberry Days Arts Festival is an annual arts festival featuring 100 artists and food vendors. The event includes a huckleberry dessert bake-off contest.

The Taste of Whitefish is an annual event that has been held for more than twenty-five years. The event features over twenty-five restaurants, caterers and beverage companies offering samples of their specialties.

The World Indoor Golf Championship has been held in Whitefish for over sixteen years and is a 9-hole “miniature golf” tournament in downtown Whitefish.

The Whitefish Winter Carnival is an annual winter festival celebrating winter topics with a parade, “penguin plunge” into Whitefish Lake, and snow sculptures. It is held the first weekend in February each year. The Whitefish Winter Carnival is one of Flathead Valley’s most popular events.

Museums and other points of interest

• Whitefish Mountain Resort
• Great Northern Brewing Company
• Alpine Theatre Project
• Whitefish Theatre Company

Whitefish is served by the Whitefish School District. Schools in the district include Muldown Elementary School, Whitefish Middle School. Whitefish High School and Whitefish Independent High School. Whitefish School District offers students K-12 a wide range of academic supplements, for example, online Virtual High School and dual credit opportunity through Flathead Valley Community College.

Whitefish High School is home to numerous state championship teams; the most recent is the girls cross country team. They have won four consecutive titles. Other state athletic accomplishments have been made in: football, girls and boys golf, volleyball, boys and girls basketball, boys and girls track and field, girls softball, boys and girls tennis, and speech & debate.

Whitefish is part of the Missoula media market, which covers a seven-county area of northwestern Montana. The city’s main newspaper is The Whitefish Pilot, while the Flathead Beacon, a regional newspaper for the Flathead Valley based in Kalispell, publishes Whitefish Area News. Three radio stations are licensed to Whitefish, all owned by Bee Broadcasting, Inc.: KJJR 880 AM, KSAM 1240 AM, and KWOL-FM 105.1.

U.S. Route 93 and MT 40 run through Whitefish. Commercial airlines are available at Glacier Park International Airport along U.S. Route 2.

The city has a train station that is served by Amtrak’s Chicago–Portland/Seattle Empire Builder, as well as intercity buses to Kalispell and Missoula. The station is Amtrak’s busiest in Montana. The Whitefish Amtrak station is owned by Stumptown Historical Society, and was listed on the listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2002.