Helena in Lewis and Clark County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Caretaker's Cabin
Helena Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 15, 2021
1. Caretaker's Cabin Marker
Inscription.
Caretaker's Cabin. Helena Historic District. According to reminiscences of the Butts family, builders of the Pioneer Cabin next door, two cabins stood on this lot in 1865. William Davenport likely built one for his family and the William H. Parkinsons occupied the other. Sallie Davenport, later Mrs. A. J. Davidson, was eight when her family arrived from Missouri. She recalled that her cabins dirt roof dripped for days after a good rain. Twenty-year-old Jeannette Parkinson kept house in the other cabin. Her husband, a longtime steamboat pilot, was then fifty-three. Captain Parkinson turned to freighting and mining when he brought his young wife to Montana. The two tiny cabins served as interim housing and by 1875 had been incorporated into this single residence. Portions of the original log walls are still visible beneath the clapboard. By the mid-1880s, the dwelling marked the southern edge of Helenas low-rent red light district, where a motley assortment of cabins and cribs stretched from here north to Wall Street. The former house of ill repute was rehabilitated for the caretaker of the Pioneer Cabin.
According to reminiscences of the Butts family, builders of the Pioneer Cabin next door, two cabins stood on this lot in 1865. William Davenport likely built one for his family and the William H. Parkinsons occupied the other. Sallie Davenport, later Mrs. A. J. Davidson, was eight when her family arrived from Missouri. She recalled that her cabins dirt roof dripped for days after a good rain. Twenty-year-old Jeannette Parkinson kept house in the other cabin. Her husband, a longtime steamboat pilot, was then fifty-three. Captain Parkinson turned to freighting and mining when he brought his young wife to Montana. The two tiny cabins served as interim housing and by 1875 had been incorporated into this single residence. Portions of the original log walls are still visible beneath the clapboard. By the mid-1880s, the dwelling marked the southern edge of Helenas low-rent red light district, where a motley assortment of cabins and cribs stretched from here north to Wall Street. The former house of ill repute was rehabilitated for the caretaker of the Pioneer Cabin.
Erected by Montana Historical Society.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Architecture • Entertainment
Location. 46° 35.093′ N, 112° 2.591′ W. Marker is in Helena, Montana, in Lewis and Clark County. It is at the intersection of South Park Avenue and Reeder's Alley on South Park Avenue. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 212 South Park Avenue, Helena MT 59601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically entral Montana in Gold West Country. It is also in the American Mountain West and in the Lewis & Clark Corridor. Globally, it is in North America, the Rocky Mountains, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once Ruperts Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Credits. This page was last revised on January 10, 2025. It was originally submitted on December 3, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 282 times since then and 13 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 3, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
