Somers is a small north-western Montana town located close to the north end of Flathead Lake, in scenic Flathead County.
The town is just 8 miles south of Kalispell, and you can get to it by US 93 and MT 82, with the closest Interstate being I-90, about 95 miles south of Somers.
The formation of the town as it is today began around the time of the construction of a sawmill by local businessman and entrepreneur John O’Brien in 1900. Subsequently, a small town began to form around it adjacent to the mill, towards the north-western shores of Flathead Lake across 500 acres or so of purchased land.
The mill profited from supplying the Great Northern Railway until the company bought it 7 years later–along with the town. It grew in size and numbers as workers came in response to advertisements for working in the woods for decent wages.
River boatmen ran mill logs down the Flathead River, tugboats chugged logs in booms over to the mill, and the Somers Lumber Company operation encompassed the sawmill, a tie-treatment plant, and a box-making factory.
In 1937, close to 400 workers were producing 60 million board feet of lumber.
At one point the company owned 122 houses, a store, and the water and electric utilities, along with the site of the town. John O’Brien’s mansion remained the town’s dominant feature for a while, until eventually after the Second World War severe changes killed the timber industry along with the company’s profits.
The Great Northern sold the sawmill property and the townsite to a Seattle salvage dealer in 1948, paving the way for a new chapter entirely.
The town’s name apparently originates with one George O. Somers—Vice-President of the Northern Railroad and a key figure in the construction of the line from Kalispell to Somers in 1901.
A boost to the town came once the railroad was established in the area by way of the freight trains’ expanded line of services, which entailed bringing passengers into the town’s region for lake boat excursions. Accordingly, as the docks became busier, other recreation and tourist activities increased.
Today Somers is considered a gateway to some of the best recreation Montana has to offer–especially when it comes to lakes—making it something of a hot spot for sailing, boating, waterskiing, swimming, fishing, picnicking and camping.
The huge body of water is surrounded by mountains nearby which are another prime location for different types of outdoor activities like hiking and downhill skiing at a local mountain resort.
