Kremlin celebrates 100 years

The United Methodist Church of Kremlin, as it appeared in 1916.

Past and present residents of Kremlin are gathering in town Saturday and Sunday to commemorate the people and history of the town and the 100-year anniversary of the Kremlin Lutheran Church and the United Methodist Church.

The town will celebrate with a parade at 11:30 a. m. on Saturday followed by music in the park. Historical family storyboards and historical cars and machinery will be on display after the parade for people to meander through.

Festivities on Saturday will conclude with a pig roast.

The town's two churches will hold a joint worship service in the park Sunday at 11 a. m. A barbecue picnic will follow.

More than 400 invitations were mailed, according to Judi Gomke, centennial committee member. As of Wednesday around 250 to 275 guests had registered.

"We have people coming from out of town, coming back to the town they were raised in or went to school in, " said Gomke. "I'm sure there will be lots of reminiscing. "

The first settlers to the Kremlin area arrived between 1909 and 1911 but the town was not surveyed until 1913. The committee decided to celebrate the centennial this year to coincide with the anniversaries of the two churches.

Becky Losey

A Thursday view of United Methodist Church of Kremlin.

"The town wasn't laid in 1911 but the two churches were, and we figured if a town was civilized enough to have those then it was well on its way to becoming a town, " Gomke said.

Kremlin enjoyed prosperous early years as wheat and oat farmers moved to the area. When the town was booming, it included four general stores, two hotels, three saloons, three grain elevators and many other businesses.

Carra Johnson Callies runs the Kremlin-Montana-History.com website. Callies grew up in Kremlin and now resides in Virginia. Her brother still farms the family land today. The website contains town history as well as first person accounts of life in Kremlin.

"There are some wild tales and wild stories, and I think they're all true, " said Callies.

The town's unusual name is said to come from a foreman in the early days of the Great Northern Railway according to Charles Petrie, a depot agent in Kremlin, as quoted on the website. The foreman saw the distant Bear's Paw Mountains through a mirage-like effect, and it reminded him of the Kremlin in Russia, his native home. Railroad officials eventually adopted the name for the station.

Calamity came in the form of a tornado and drought in 1916 and population sharply declined as businesses failed. Periods of renewal and decay cycled through the town corresponding with the arrival of new industry or poor crop yields.

The Dees family recently celebrated 100 years of farming in the Kremlin area after Andrew Dees first came to Kremlin in 1910. Don Dees, 83 years old, can remember the booms and busts of Kremlin. When asked if Kremlin will be around in another 100 years, he was hesitant.

"There are a lot of good farmers around here, but there isn't much here anymore, " Dees said. "The post office is about the only thing left, and you have to go to Havre for groceries. "

Dees is in the process of moving from Kremlin. His nephew now runs the family farm.

Gomke has also witnessed the ups and downs of small- town life on the Hi-Line.

A Thursday view of the Lutheran Church of Kremlin.

"I've been here through some of the booms and busts, " Gomke said. "I'd like to think that something would come again like the gas boom did. "

Time will tell if Kremlin will be around to celebrate a second centennial. A strong community spirit and people unafraid of hard work has helped the town survive for 100 years.

"Here, when things need to get done, everybody just comes together to do it, " said Gomke. "Everybody does a little something to get ready. "