Kalispell

Kalispell takes its name from a Salish word meaning flat land above the lake, a reference to the broad valley floor the city occupies at the northern end of Flathead Lake. The Great Northern Railway platted the town in eighteen ninety-one when it drove its main line through the Flathead Valley on the way to Puget Sound. It grew quickly as a lumber and agricultural center, and the ornate Conrad Mansion, built by merchant and rancher Charles Conrad in eighteen ninety-five, still stands as evidence of the wealth the railroad era produced. Today Kalispell is the commercial hub for the Flathead Valley and the closest city to Glacier National Park, which draws millions of visitors a year to the mountains just to the east.