Event Details

Winnett

Montana County Seat Challenge

Winnett, Montana; Petroleum County

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Event Elevation: 2,975 feet

Winnett is a town in and the county seat of Petroleum County, Montana, United States. The population was 188 at the 2020 census. In addition to county government offices, Winnett's businesses and services include a general store, two filling/service stations, a post office, a school system with grades K-12, an event venue completed in 2023, a motel, 2 RV parks, a campground and a bar-and-grill. Local news is reported from the Roundup Record Tribune & Winnett Times. It is published weekly and also available online. The nearest medical facilities are in Lewistown. Winnett was named for Walter John Winnett (1860–1943), who was born at the Queen's Hotel in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Petroleum County is a county in the U.S. state of Montana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 496, making it the least populous county in Montana and the eighth-least populous in the United States. Its county seat is Winnett. The county's area was partitioned from Fergus County in 1925 to become the last of Montana's 56 counties to be organized. Walter John Winnett, a rancher who had been adopted into the Sioux tribe, started a ranch in Montana Territory in 1879. His ranch house (built 1900) became a gathering place for the area. In 1910, he built a store and petitioned for a post office; thus Winnett became an official town.