Tag Archives: Small Towns

Small Town Stories: Castleford, Idaho

By Black Mountain Software | Published February 10, 2014

Castleford is a small town (.4 miles to be exact) with a big history. It is located along Salmon Falls Creek, a tributary of the Snake River which flows a total of 121 miles and was once a popular trading route between the Native Americans and settlers of the Snake River Plain and Great Basin.

Castleford was named after its odd-shaped “ford” that allowed mid-1800’s pioneers to cross the creek along the Kelton-Dalles stage route. The unusual ford was marked by a series of rhyolite obelisks.

In 1890, a man by the name of Cephas Lilly settled along this ford, and it became known as “Castleford.” Though considered a hardworking pioneer, new evidence paints a not-so-pretty picture of Cephas Lilly. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Deary, Idaho

By Black Mountain Software | Published December 23, 2013

BMS welcomes the small town of Deary, Idaho to our family! Deary, with its population of 505, has lumber homesteaders who made their way there during the 1880’s and 1890’s to thank for their rural northern Idaho lifestyle.

Timber, along with agriculture, remain the main industries of Deary since its establishment in 1907.

Deary is a product of the Potlatch Lumber Company, like many of its fellow communities along the Idaho railway such as Elk River, Bovill, and Potlatch. Unlike Potlatch, however, the town of Deary was created by the sale of lots which were to be lumbered and then cleared solely for the purpose of creating homelands. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Plevna, Montana

By Black Mountain Software | Published October 21, 2013

We are excited to welcome the town of Plevna, Montana to our Black Mountain Software family. While the Plevna School District, home of the Cougars, has been a software client of ours since 2009, we are thrilled that the town of Plevna itself is also joining our BMS family of customers.

Plevna, with a population of 162 and 90 utility customers, occupies Fallon County, Montana. First established in 1909, Plevna resides on the Milwaukee Road Transcontinental Rail Line along the Pacific Extension. Due to the number of Bulgarian railroad workers in the area at the time, the town is named after a Bulgarian city, Pleven. Read more >

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BMS “Engineers” Growth in 2013 with 500th Customer (and growing)

By Black Mountain Software | Published June 3, 2013

Last week we featured The Lake Panorama Association of Panora, Iowa as our small town story feature on our blog.  Lake Panorama holds a special place in the hearts of the owners and staff of Black Mountain Software, and here’s why: Serving over 1,700 property owners along 30 miles of shoreline, the association needed an efficient way to bill, track and report utility bills for property owners. They selected Black Mountain Software to deliver the technology, making Iowa’s Lake Panorama Association our 500th customer and the 24th state we service!

Black Mountain Software sales associate, Teresa Van Buren said the systems administrator for the Lake Panorama Association, Royce Shaffer, contacted Black Mountain Software in March of 2012 via the company’s website quote request form. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Lake Panorama Association, Iowa

By Black Mountain Software | Published May 27, 2013

lake panoramaBlack Mountain Software is excited to feature the Lake Panorama Association in Iowa as our “Small Town” feature this month.  Anyone who enjoys lakeside leisure would understand why Lake Panorama is an obvious choice; but this place is also home to Black Mountain’s 500th client in our 24th state, which makes it particularly special to us!

As the largest private lake in Iowa, Lake Panorama has 1,400 acres of water surface, and over 30 miles of casting shoreline. The lake is managed by the Lake Panorama Association, which was established 83 years ago and has 1,750 members who represent the 1,000 residents that occupy the land surrounding the lake. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Hazelton, ND

By Black Mountain Software | Published January 21, 2013

Black Mountain Software recently hit an enormous milestone: signing our 500th customer.  But hold on!  Before we write about that, we want to share our happiness about customer number 499, Hazelton, North Dakota. After working with municipal officials since 2009, BMS is excited to equip Hazelton with the whole nine yards: Utility Billing software Finance software, Payroll software, and our Automated Meter Reading interface module.

You may have heard about the town of Hazelton, ND, which in 2005 offered families up to two lots, $20,000 towards a home, and lots of elbow room to anyone willing to give the cold winters a try and make Hazelton home. Read more >

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Chronicles of a Montana County Road Warrior in Libby, MT (Guest Blog)

By Black Mountain Software | Published January 17, 2013

by: David Morton, Customer Solutions Coordinator and Guest Blogger for the BMS County Traveling Road Show Series

These are the chronicles of one David Morton, road warrior on a mission to solve client problems for Black Mountain’s Governmental Accounting Software.  What you are about to read is real.

December 13, 2012 -Libby, MT

Well its Sunday, three days after my day two ended (WARNING: Day 2 material just isn’t as fresh as Day 1 and may contain unintended embellishments). But let’s go back…back into the murky world of memory…. Like in the movie Ground Hog’s Day with Ben Affleck….oh wait I mean Bill Murray…nonetheless, my eyes snapped open to the same alarm. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Scobey, MT

By Black Mountain Software | Published November 14, 2012

Which town in Montana has a courthouse that used to be a brothel, people as its second-largest export, and 35 renovated historic buildings which now host amenities such as a trapshooting range and a hydrotherapy pool?  It’s Scobey, Montana, and this town has a whole lot of character jam-packed into its tiny one-square mile footprint.

Scobey may be a small town, but there’s no lack of personality in this community.  In fact, the many restored buildings have been much of the buzz around town for years, possibly beginning as far back as 1915 when what is now the Daniels County Courthouse was home to One-Eyed Molly’s, a “house of ill repute.”

Beyond the courthouse, Scobey is home to a newly expanded school complex, a newly renovated hospital and nursing home, a full service airport, a 9-hole golf course and clubhouse, municipal pools, ball parks, a movie theater, two grocery stores, and several other industrial and professional service buildings. Read more >

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How Post Office Closures Affect Small Towns

By Black Mountain Software | Published November 7, 2012

English: The United States Postal Service Cont...

Back in June, we featured an article about the town of Pray Montana, which was for sale for $1.2 million.  What made Pray so special?  Well, despite having only 10 residents, Pray has its own zip code, and its own post office.

In a time where digital documents are replacing paperwork, and email is replacing “snail mail,” small town post offices are less commonly “open for business.”  In fact, the Internet, is more or less, “killing the post office.”

But, as many towns are finding out, the Internet can’t replace every aspect of mail service, and small, poor towns, stand to lose the most with a post office closure.  That’s because smaller towns and towns with less money tend to have spotty internet service and fewer residents that use, or know how to use, computers. Read more >

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Small Town Stories: Belleair, Florida

By Black Mountain Software | Published September 10, 2012

A Treasurer, who is a client of ours in Belleair, Florida, inspired this month’s small town story. After taking a look at Belleair and finding out more about its colorful history, we couldn’t help but make it into a small town story piece!

All that Belleair has to offer—yachting, horseback riding, golfing, tennis, and skeet shooting—was the exact reason why Henry B. Plant built a majestic hotel there in 1897. But it was the national craze for bicycling that really put Belleair (and the Belleview Hotel) on the map. Belleair became a cycling mecca during the Turn of the Century, hosting a six-day bicycle race and other national (and international) cycling events. Read more >

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