Virginia City in Madison County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)
Daems House
This Property Contributes to the Virginia City Historic District
Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 5, 2022
1. Daems House Marker
Inscription.
Daems House. This Property Contributes to the Virginia City Historic District. Though simple by today’s standards, the Daems house exemplifies an upper-middle-class, early-1860s Virginia City dwelling. Dr. Levinus Daems and his wife Marie Daems, a nurse, may have been the first residents of the house. Born in Belgium and trained in Paris, Dr. Daems arrived in Virginia City in 1863 to open the City Drug Store. Marie followed a year later with their young daughter and Marie’s two sisters. Levinus served on the first Board of Aldermen in 1865, the Territorial Council in 1866, and as mayor in 1868. He owned more than thirty properties in town. It is unclear if the Daems’s continued to live here as their family and fortunes grew, or if the home became a rental property. Nevertheless, its colorful wallpaper, paint, and faux wood-grain trim reflected the Daems’s economic status and showcased the decorative products their drugstore sold. Levinus died in 1874, and Marie died in 1904. The house remained in the family until 1952. In 2007, the Montana Heritage Commission documented the house’s multi-layered interior finishes before restoring the residence to its 1860s appearance.
Though simple by today’s standards, the Daems house exemplifies an upper-middle-class, early-1860s Virginia City dwelling. Dr. Levinus Daems and his wife Marie Daems, a nurse, may have been the first residents of the house. Born in Belgium and trained in Paris, Dr. Daems arrived in Virginia City in 1863 to open the City Drug Store. Marie followed a year later with their young daughter and Marie’s two sisters. Levinus served on the first Board of Aldermen in 1865, the Territorial Council in 1866, and as mayor in 1868. He owned more than thirty properties in town. It is unclear if the Daems’s continued to live here as their family and fortunes grew, or if the home became a rental property. Nevertheless, its colorful wallpaper, paint, and faux wood-grain trim reflected the Daems’s economic status and showcased the decorative products their drugstore sold. Levinus died in 1874, and Marie died in 1904. The house remained in the family until 1952. In 2007, the Montana Heritage Commission documented the house’s multi-layered interior finishes before restoring the residence to its 1860s appearance.
Location. 45° 17.569′ N, 111° 56.692′ W. Marker is in Virginia City, Montana, in Madison County. It is on East Idaho Street near Van Buren Street, on the left when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 118 East Idaho Street, Virginia City MT 59755, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Southwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining Country and in Greater Bozeman. 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 September 17, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 17, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 199 times since then and 16 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3. submitted on September 17, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.
