- Lewistown
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city, seat (1899) of Fergus county, central Montana, U.S. Situated on Big Spring Creek in the dead centre of the state, Lewistown began in 1873 as a trading post on the Carroll Trail. Initially named Reed's Fort for Major A.S. Reed (who opened a post office there in 1881), the town was renamed in 1899 for an earlier officer, Major William H. Lewis, who in 1876 had established a fort 2 miles (3 km) south. After the arrival of the Central Montana (Jawbone) Railroad in 1903, Lewistown became a distribution point for the Judith Basin, once the scene of a gold rush (1880) but now a wheat and cattle district. Its economy has long depended on local mining activities (coal, gold, silver, and gypsum); its industrial output includes oil and cement products. Tourism is of increasing importance because of the city's proximity to the Judith Mountains. A state fish hatchery is 7 miles (11 km) to the east. Inc. 1899. Pop. (1990) 6,051; (2000) 5,813.borough (town), seat (1789) of Mifflin county, south-central Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Juniata River, 45 miles (72 km) northwest of Harrisburg. Opened for settlement (1754) by a treaty with the Iroquois, it was laid out in 1790 on the site of the Shawnee Indian village, Ohesson. It was one of the state's pioneering iron-manufacturing centres and was named for William Lewis, an early ironmaster. Nearby Fort Granville was built by settlers in 1755 and destroyed the following year in the French and Indian War. Lewistown became an important shipping point with the opening of the Pennsylvania Canal in 1829.Diversified farming and manufactures (steel products, farm machinery, textiles and apparel, and metal doors) form its economic base. The Greenwood Furnace (restored early ironworks) and Reeds Gap State parks, and Lewistown Narrows, a scenic gorge on the river, are nearby. Inc. 1795. Pop. (1990) 9,341; (2000) 8,998.
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Universalium. 2010.
