Lewistown in Fergus County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Wiedeman Apartments
Lewistown Central Business Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 17, 2019
1. Wiedeman Apartments Marker
Inscription.
Wiedeman Apartments. Lewistown Central Business Historic District. As Lewistown’s population doubled between 1910 and 1920, the community found itself short on living space. According to the paper, newcomers had difficulty procuring “even the most indifferent dwelling accommodations.” G. R. Wiedeman capitalized on the tight housing market by constructing this two-story business block, which featured retail space on the first floor and apartments on the second. An energetic businessman and Lewistown booster, Wiedeman was a principal in the Montana Hardware Company and one of the founders of the Lewistown Electric Light Company and the Lewistown Brick and Tile Company. His brickyard’s distinctive “Lewistown red” lines the 1916 building’s façade. Much of the rest of the building is of rubble stone, salvaged from the original Montana Hardware Co. building. Wiedeman and his partners razed that early Main Street building in 1916 to construct a larger, more sophisticated business block. As a result, both Main Street and Broadway, whose development lagged substantially behind Main, became more elegant. After a 1943 fire, the Wiedemans converted the mixed-use building into eight apartments, two of which were occupied by Wiedeman sons Art and Bill.
As Lewistown’s population doubled between 1910 and 1920, the community found itself short on living space. According to the paper, newcomers had difficulty procuring “even the most indifferent dwelling accommodations.” G. R. Wiedeman capitalized on the tight housing market by constructing this two-story business block, which featured retail space on the first floor and apartments on the second. An energetic businessman and Lewistown booster, Wiedeman was a principal in the Montana Hardware Company and one of the founders of the Lewistown Electric Light Company and the Lewistown Brick and Tile Company. His brickyard’s distinctive “Lewistown red” lines the 1916 building’s façade. Much of the rest of the building is of rubble stone, salvaged from the original Montana Hardware Co. building. Wiedeman and his partners razed that early Main Street building in 1916 to construct a larger, more sophisticated business block. As a result, both Main Street and Broadway—whose development lagged substantially behind Main—became more elegant. After a 1943 fire, the Wiedemans converted the mixed-use building
Click or scan to see this page online
into eight apartments, two of which were occupied by Wiedeman sons Art and Bill.
Erected by The Montana National Register Sign Program.
Location. 47° 3.989′ N, 109° 25.574′ W. Marker is in Lewistown, Montana, in Fergus County. It is on West Broadway Street near 2nd Avenue North, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 214 West Broadway Street, Lewistown MT 59457, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically entral Montana in Russell Country. It is also in the American Mountain West and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 19, 2020. It was originally submitted on December 12, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 334 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 12, 2019, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
