Comanche, MT
It was an ugly morning in Montana yesterday, but the afternoon wasn’t too bad at all. Max and I headed out for a drive late in the afternoon an ended up in Comanche, MT. It’s not really a town, not sure if it ever was, I think it was more of a train stop for the grain silos that used to be there. Here are a few shots from our visit.
This was taken just north of Comanche, it's a panoramic using 5 vertical images
This is a HDR photo using 3 images one stop apart
This is my favorite shot of the day!
Tim Mazzaferro Photography 
Very nice work with both the HDR and the “Comanche”, Tim. Composition and post processing are spot on.
Sunday,April 10, 2011 at 1:40 pm
Thanks Wayne!
Sunday,April 10, 2011 at 2:17 pm
Beautiful! Love those old grain elevators.
Sunday,April 10, 2011 at 2:13 pm
Thanks!
Sunday,April 10, 2011 at 3:45 pm
Great photos!!!!!!
Monday,April 11, 2011 at 9:15 am
Thanks Sherlynn!
Monday,April 11, 2011 at 10:24 am
Commanche was a town with post office, hotel, and school. The old house on the west side of the tracks was a hotel. It also had a 1st thru 12th grade school. There was a black smith shop (this building still stands along with the hotel).
Over 200 families used to live in the Commanche area.
It was also a railroad stop with a depot there.
Where the new homes are on the east side of the track, was where the school and some houses there.
My Uncle and Aunt lived there all of their married life. Their son and his wife and granddaughter live there now.
Thursday,April 14, 2011 at 9:36 am
Thanks for the history lesson Bruce! That’s great information, it looks like I missed a lot, I’ll have to go out and take another look. Where is the hotel located in relation to the grain elevator?
Tim
Thursday,April 14, 2011 at 9:58 am
same side of the track to the west.
Also found some more info for you.
There is a cemetary down the road from the elevators and to the left on a hill.
There was Methodist Church and parsonage, the church was moved to Broadview and became a Catholic Church and the parsonage was moved to Billings -1400 Block of Grand- and then moved again to 4800 Rimrock Rd and at this time the 2nd story had to be removed because of zoning laws.
In 1920, Rev. Miss Effie Mae McBride was the minister at the Commanche Methodist Episocal Chruch.
You could also stop and ask questions of my cousin, Paul Ahern. He lives in the double wide behind the elevators.
Thursday,April 14, 2011 at 10:25 am
My grandfather, Johannes Mammen, homesteaded in Comanche. He and his wife, Clara, owned and ran the general store there until 1929 (1928?) when the town well dried up. (I was always told there had been oil in the water.) My great-grandmother, Lola Del Helm was the post mistress there until 1940 something when things really shut down. The Helm family home burned in Comanche after one of the younger Helm brothers lit a match in a closet. When I was young, sometime in the late 1970’s we took a metal detector and combed the area where the house had been. At that time, there were still indentations around where the house had been. I seem to recall there was still some boardwalk, or at least the impression of the boardwalk at that time. There was never a huge population there, and most of the family stories center on Broadview, which was a larger town nearby. The church property was originally donated to the town by my Grandfather, and he worked for years to get the title back after the church building was removed and the land abandoned. My brothers and I just sold the last bit of land owned by the family in Comanche a couple of years ago.
Monday,November 11, 2013 at 10:34 am