Helena in Lewis and Clark County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Lyman-Neel Residence
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 16, 2021
1. Lyman-Neel Residence Marker
Inscription.
The Lyman-Neel Residence and its many occupants reflect the ever-changing character of the North Rodney Street neighborhood. Soon after Helena’s first county courthouse opened in 1867, merchants and professionals established Helena’s first fashionable neighborhood along Rodney Street in the “quiet part of town.” Lawyer and U.S. Land Office register Lorenzo Lyman had this Free Classic Queen Anne style home built in 1873. The Lymans lived comfortably, enjoying leaded-glass windows, decorative woodwork, a garden, chickens, and a cow. In 1875, the Lymans sold everything to mercantile owners Samuel and Lavinia Neel. Samuel died suddenly in 1882, and Lavinia moved to California. Seeing opportunity in Helena’s booming population, Lavinia kept the house for rental income. By the early 1890s, the prestigious part of town had moved to the West Side, and this became a boarding house. In 1898, African-American businesswoman Alice Palmer lived downstairs with her mother and five children and rented the upstairs rooms to African-American tenants. Contractor Charles Stabern bought the house in 1901, and it remained a multi-family dwelling
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until 1927, when Reverend Edwin Klemme returned it to a single-family home. In 1930, associate Montana Supreme Court Justice Sam C. Ford and wife Mary bought the house. When Ford became Montana governor in 1941, the family moved into the governor’s mansion. He rented this house to boarders, resuming residence after his terms ended in 1949. With no children living at home, the Fords lived downstairs, renting out the upstairs rooms. Sam Ford died in 1961, and Mary remained in residence as landlady until her death in 1972.
Location. 46° 35.239′ N, 112° 1.997′ W. Marker is in Helena, Montana, in Lewis and Clark County. It is on North Rodney Street near East 7th Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 309 North Rodney Street, Helena MT 59601, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally,
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 16, 2021
2. Lyman-Neel Residence and Marker
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 Rupert’s Land and also the Louisiana Purchase.
Credits. This page was last revised on December 17, 2021. It was originally submitted on December 17, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 217 times since then and 23 times this year. Photos:1, 2. submitted on December 17, 2021, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
