West Glacier is the western entrance to Glacier National Park, so the name describes its
location at the southern tip of Lake McDonald. The post office was
established in 1949 with Helen Gibb as postmaster. Previous to that, the
postal area was known as Belton.
The settlement history of the Flathead Valley is closely tied to the construction of the
Great Northern Railroad through the upper Flathead Valley in 1891 and the
opening of the Flathead Indian Reservation to homesteaders.
