Colstrip, MT

Colstrip is a Rosebud County city of 2,096 residents in the 2020 census, and its map is inseparable from coal and electricity. Northern Pacific built the original company town in the early 1920s to supply coal for steam locomotives; the mine closed when railroads changed fuels, then reopened in the 1960s as Colstrip's power stations were built. The Rosebud Mine lies south of town in the Powder River Basin, and four coal-fired units came online in the 1970s and 1980s. Energy work remains the defining industrial backdrop.

Castle Rock Lake was built for the power complex's water supply and is also used for boating and fishing. Colstrip Public Schools runs from kindergarten through 12th grade, while the city connects residents with parks and recreation, a county library, the SHAC Art Center, and the annual Colstrip Days celebration. That mix gives the town a distinct layout: an energy settlement with schools, civic services, lake recreation, and working mine-and-plant infrastructure sharing the same broad Montana landscape.