BLACK EAGLE, Montana Community Information

Black Eagle is a small community adjacent to Great Falls area. The community was named for the Black Eagle Falls on the Missouri River. The falls was named Black Eagle Falls after Captain Meriwether Lewis noted a "black" eagle nest in the area. Near this area the Boston & Montana Consolidated Copper and Silver Mining Company began consturction of its reduction works on the north side of the Missouri River in 1891. With the completion of the smelter, immigrant workers constructed the small communities of Little Milwaukee and Little Chicago - the name suggesting the industrialization of the area. The Anaconda Company took over control of the Boston & Montana smelter in 1910. When August Cor established the post office in his store in 1917, the name was changed from Little Chicago to Black Eagle. Towering 506 feet over the community, the smelter's smokestack dominated the skyline until its demolition on September 18, 1982.

The town is near Giant Springs State Park, the site of the Roe River, the world's shortest river, and Black Eagle Falls Overlook. In fact, from the roadside overlook one can see the town of Black Eagle just across the Missouri River.