Red Lodge in Carbon County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Kent Dairy Round Barn

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 22, 2021

1. Kent Dairy Round Barn Marker

Inscription. Finnish immigrant Ephraim Kent settled in Red Lodge in the early 1900s to work in the coal mines while his wife, Fiina, began a small dairy business. It was a family venture from the start, with all the children pitching in to deliver raw milk in buckets, and later bottles, to local customers. The business grew, and by 1938 the Kent sons and their wives were all involved in the dairy. When a city ordinance prohibited cows in town, the family moved, purchasing this land and an abandoned building in Bear Creek. They meticulously salvaged its bricks, wood joists, and decorative tin ceiling, which they used to build their barn. Eighty-one-year-old Emery McNamee, an expert on round barns, served as building consultant, but the work was accomplished by Ephraim and his sons. Although none of the Kents had ever laid brick, they quickly learned, displaying uncanny ingenuity in adapting materials at hand along the way. Steam pipes recovered from a nearby mine served as stall dividers, hand-hewn beams were finished with a plane whose cutting bit was a piece of leaf-spring from a car, and thirty-seven log support posts were shaped

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with a draw knife. Built with the determination, perseverance, and fortitude the Finnish call “sisu,” the round barn served the industrious, hard-working Kents for thirty years. Many locals remember summer dances held in the spacious second floor before it was filled with winter feed. When Armas and Sylvia Kent retired in 1969, the barn was converted for use as a restaurant. Its historic function remains evident, however, and the cherished Red Lodge landmark is today an excellent example of adaptive reuse.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Agriculture • Architecture • Notable Buildings • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1938.

Location. 45° 13.15′ N, 109° 14.483′ W. Marker is in Red Lodge, Montana, in Carbon County. It is on U.S. 212 near Two Mile Bridge Road, on the left when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 7193 U.S Highway 212, Red Lodge MT 59068, United States of America.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, July 22, 2021

2. Kent Dairy Round Barn Marker

The marker can be viewed through the window in the door.

Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Yellowstone Country

and in Greater Billings.

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.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Red Lodge Brewing Company / Red Lodge Canning Company Historic District (approx. 1.6 miles away); Plenty Coups - Chief Of The Crows (approx. 1.7 miles away); O'Shea House (approx. 1.7 miles away); Liver-Eating Johnston's Cabin (approx. 1.7 miles away); Chapman House (approx. 1.8 miles away); Talmage House (approx. 1.8 miles away); 612 North Hauser Avenue (approx. 1.8 miles away); McDowell House (approx. 1.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Red Lodge.

Credits. This page was last revised on January 17, 2022. It was originally submitted on January 17, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 300 times since then and 26 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on January 17, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.