Forsyth in Rosebud County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Taber Residence
Forsyth Residential Historic District
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, September 14, 2020
1. Taber Residence Marker
Inscription.
Taber Residence. Forsyth Residential Historic District. Civil engineer Charles Taber helped survey the original Northern Pacific line through Forsyth in 1881. He must have liked what he saw because he soon returned to Forsyth, becoming the town’s first mayor after it incorporated in 1904. Taber purchased this two-story Queen Anne style home in 1906, living here with his family into the 1930s. The cross-gable residence, built circa 1892, features bay windows, turned porch supports, carved porch brackets, and a small spindlework frieze. Railroads brought such precut architectural elements to towns along their tracks, allowing builders to personalize homes for their clients. The interior boasts a narrow, sharply curved wooden staircase that, according to local legend, came from a steamboat that wrecked on the Yellowstone River. Very few boats traveled the Yellowstone after the Northern Pacific completed its railroad line in 1883, but the staircase does, in fact, look like those found in nineteenth-century steamboats. The 1870s saw at least two steamboat wrecks on the Yellowstone, and thrifty Montanans always salvaged what they could from the wreckage, from freight and machinery to building materials.
Civil engineer Charles Taber helped survey the original Northern Pacific line through Forsyth in 1881. He must have liked what he saw because he soon returned to Forsyth, becoming the town’s first mayor after it incorporated in 1904. Taber purchased this two-story Queen Anne style home in 1906, living here with his family into the 1930s. The cross-gable residence, built circa 1892, features bay windows, turned porch supports, carved porch brackets, and a small spindlework frieze. Railroads brought such precut architectural elements to towns along their tracks, allowing builders to personalize homes for their clients. The interior boasts a narrow, sharply curved wooden staircase that, according to local legend, came from a steamboat that wrecked on the Yellowstone River. Very few boats traveled the Yellowstone after the Northern Pacific completed its railroad line in 1883, but the staircase does, in fact, look like those found in nineteenth-century steamboats. The 1870s saw at least two steamboat wrecks on the Yellowstone, and thrifty Montanans always salvaged what they could from the wreckage, from freight and machinery to building materials.
Erected by Montana Historical Society.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture
Location. 46° 16.107′ N, 106° 40.688′ W. Marker is in Forsyth, Montana, in Rosebud County. Marker is at the intersection of North 11th Avenue and River Street, on the right when traveling north on North 11th Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 309 North 11th Avenue, Forsyth MT 59327, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, September 14, 2020
2. Taber Residence and Marker
Credits. This page was last revised on January 19, 2021. It was originally submitted on January 19, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 104 times since then and 8 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on January 19, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
