The History of Pray
If you are curious about Pray, Montana, take a listen to Episode 11 of The Last Best Podcast: Owning Pray
Hear Barbara Walker’s story about arriving on the scene here in Pray, in the 80’s and taking over the Store after Old madge passed on.
In the podcast, there is a brief overview of the history of Pray, during an interesting time, from the 50’s- modern day, when Pray was just a few mobile homes “out back” of the Pray Store, with famous locals like Dennis Quaid and Jeff Bridges stopping by to check in on Madge and Barbara.
As the years wore on, Barbara wanted more than constantly managing a large property such as this, and sold it to the current owner, who has transformed it into a vacation rental hotspot, and possible new turnkey development opportunity for a buyer.
Now the time has come to pass on the baton to the next owner, who can take advantage of all the work done already, a property which is stable and cash-flowing, and all while having a slice of Paradise Valley, Montana, to call home.
Pray was founded in 1907 by Valentine Eggar, an entrepreneur. He named it after Congressman Charles Nelson Pray. Its population was 681 as of the 2010 census. Pray has a post office with ZIP code 59065, which opened on December 8, 1909.
The community is located on Highway 540 (East River Road), on the Yellowstone River. It is 22 miles from Livingston, and 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park. “Pray offers picturesque views of the Absaroka Mountain Range in the Gallatin National Forest.”
In 2012, the five acres that make up the town of Pray were offered for sale by owner Barbara Walker, a photographer, for $1.4 million. The town “has been privately owned since it was founded.” Walker’s family began running the town in 1953; she became mayor in 2007.
“Being the owner of Pray doesn’t have to be a difficult job,” according to Ms. Walker.
“The town is pretty low-maintenance … You collect the rent once a month and water and mow the lawn.”
