Libby City Court

Libby Court is in the Nineteenth judicial district of Montana. Us 2 and SR 37 meet in the center of Libby and SR 567 runs along the Northeast corner of the town.

At one time the Libby area was important to Indian tribes because of the presence of soft, multicolored stone, in the vicinity of Pipe Creek, which they used in carving the bowls for their tobacco pipes, which they smoked in ceremonies. From the early 1800's to around 1860 forts were built by fur trading companies along the Kootenai river. Ranches built by the early settlers could be found near the mouth of Libby Creek in the late 1880's. They located here based on the rumors of the Great Northern railroad's arrival in the area. The Heritage museum, just South of Libby, has exhibits representative of local area history and wildlife. Many of the interesting exhibits are outside on the grounds of the museum building such as the Shay Steam locomotive, an 1800's log cabin, a miner's cabin, an old forestry cookhouse, an equipment shed for old wagons, milling and lumbering machinery, pieces of mining equipment and a replica of the Snowshoe mine tunnel. The wildlife exhibits on display in the building include a silver-tipped grizzly bear, bald eagles, deer and other animals that can be found in the area. In addition there is much more to see such as the rooms furnished with turn-of-the-century furniture and clothing from the 1800-1900 era. There are exhibits by the Forest Service, mining interests and the lumber industry.