James Jerome Hill, primary stockholder and president of the St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, established the Montana Central Railway on January 25, 1886. Few railroads served Montana at that time. But Butte, Montana, was a booming mining town that needed to get its metals to market; gold and silver had been discovered near Helena, Montana; and coal companies in Canada were eager to get their fuel to Montana's smelters. Hill had already decided to build the StPM&M across the northern tier of Montana, and it made sense to build a north-south railroad through central Montana to connect Great Falls with Helena and Butte. Another reason for building the Montana Central was Hill's investment in the city of Great Falls. Hill's close friend and business associate, Paris Gibson, had founded the town of Great Falls on the Great Falls of the Missouri River in 1883, and was promoting it as a site for the development of cheap hydroelectricity and heavy industry. Hill organized the Great Falls Water Power & Townsite Company in 1887, with the goal of developing the town of Great Falls; providing it with power, sewage, and water; and attracting commerce and industry to the city. To attract industry to the new city, he offered low rates on the Montana Central Railway. Surveyors and engineers began grading a route between Helena and Great Falls in the winter of 1885-1886, and by the end of 1886 had surveyed a route from Helena to Butte. Utah businessmen Alfred W. McCune, John Caplis, and Walter Read along with Helena, Montana, businessman Hugh Kirkendall formed a company to build the road. Construction on the Great Northern's line westward began in late 1886, and on October 16, 1887, the link between Devils Lake, North Dakota; Fort Assinniboine ; and Great Falls was complete. Service to Helena began in November 1887, and Butte followed on November 10, 1888. The Montana Central's engines and cars were marked either with "Great Northern" or "Montana Central," with the capital letters "MC" over the number of the car or engine. On September 18, 1889, Hill changed the name of the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1, 1890, he transferred ownership of the StPM&M, Montana Central, and other rail systems he owned to the Great Northern. For many years, these subsidiaries operated independently. But most of them were later absorbed into the Great Northern. In 1907, the Montana Central ceased to exist after it was made part of the Great Northern.
