There are some places that are just home. Like an imprint on your soul. Roundup has a way of doing that to a person. The sagebrush rolling prairie, the ponderosa pine covered Bull Mountains, and the meandering mostly lazy, sometimes angry Musselshell River. The smells and the sounds, the sky, the people, and the stories that make up this community. There is a charm and a freedom about this little Montana town that has grabbed the hearts of residents and travelers alike for generations.
There is something quite provocative about a place that holds all the entanglements of generational communities and the messiness of life. Those memories are held in the landscape, the historic buildings and the people who remain. The past, present, the future – all the possibilities that Roundup holds.
As a former rough and tumble town with a dirt main street, saloon girls, and wood clad store fronts, the town on the Musselshell built memories for generations of ranchers, miners, and small business owners. As industry evolved, the railroad brought a new wave of smiling faces to Roundup and with it, a new generation of families making memories.
The families of the coal and railroad boom, each cherish their own quintessential childhood memories - swimming in the muddy Musselshell River, hiking up to the R, rodeos at the Marion Park Fairgrounds, meeting friends at the City Pool. The nostalgia of this small community stretches far and wide.
As Roundup strides proudly into its second century as a town, opportunity abounds. Now is an incredibly special moment to take Roundup into a new future where generations to come will build the memories that make them smile, just as the sounds of railroads, soda fountains, and horses’ hooves built the memories of our past.
The question many rural communities grapple with is, what does that change look like?
Roundup is building a future filled with celebration and admiration of its past. With a restored historic Main Street, welcoming and diverse neighborhoods, stronger and better schools, and an appreciation for the surrounding nature, Roundup is on track to become a community filled with momentum that will welcome a new generation of memories.
Roundup is growing into a community that embraces intergenerational and cultural needs of families for the future. The beautiful Marion Park Fairgrounds provide families and visitors with the opportunity to gather outside, fish the Musselshell River, hike the trails, camp at Cowbell Campgrounds, attend Rodeos and the support the local youth at the 4-H fair. Bicycles stack up on the sidewalks as children play at the city park and swim in the city pool. Families and friends go to events at the state-of-the-art music venue. Annual events, parades, rodeos, and concerts bring generations of people together year after year.
Thanks to our community’s passion for tradition and nostalgia, families of the future in Roundup will share in building these memories and thanks to our eyes on what the future brings for rural towns across the state, families in the future will build new memories that extend beyond our wildest dreams.
Change is inevitable and maintaining the close-knit safety of rural community is important. In Roundup, we do this because we respect the people that came before us and the hard work it took to carve a community out of the wild west in south central Montana. We do this because we believe in a thriving future for Roundup. We do this because Roundup is home.