Deer Lodge in Powell County, Montana — The American West (Mountains)

Trask Hall

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 7, 2022

1. Trask Hall Marker

Inscription. Eleven years before statehood, Deer Lodge became home to Montana’s first postsecondary school: the Montana Collegiate Institute. The nonsectarian, coeducational college offered both high school classes and a classical graduating course “as comprehensive and thorough as that of most seminaries and female colleges.” Architects H. DeWitt and Henry L. Gay of Chicago designed the institute’s first building. However, the building committee stripped the design of much of its ornamentation after it received the initial construction bids. The simplified hipped-roof, two-story Trask Hall was constructed in 1878 for approximately $13,000, using locally quarried granite and bricks imported from Helena. The school folded under financial strain after only a year. Three years later, the Presbyterian Church acquired the institute and changed its name to the College of Montana. Nationally, Presbyterians saw the college as part of their campaign to civilize and Christianize the West, and a generous East Coast donor, Alanson Trask, paid the school’s remaining $6,000 debt. Trask Hall was renamed in his honor. At its peak, the college boasted

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15 faculty and 160 students, housed in two dormitories. Among the faculty was Theodore Brantly, who became chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court upon statehood. The school closed in 1900, unable to compete with the new, state-funded university system. It reopened under different management in 1906 only to close for good in 1917. In 1921, School District One purchased the campus, including Trask Hall. Nevertheless, Montana’s Presbyterians continued to support higher education, ultimately uniting with other denominations to found Rocky Mountain College in Billings.

Erected by Montana Historical Society.

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Education • Notable Buildings • Religion & Religious Structures. In addition, it is included in the Montana National Register Sign Program series list.

Location. 46° 23.674′ N, 112° 43.863′ W. Marker is in Deer Lodge, Montana, in Powell County. It can be reached from 5th Street near Collage Avenue, on the right when traveling north. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 811

Trask Hall and Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 7, 2022

2. Trask Hall and Marker

5th Street, Deer Lodge MT 59722, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in andspecifically outhwest Montana, in Gold West Country, in Mining 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.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Siberia East (approx. ¼ mile away); Execution of George Rock (approx. ¼ mile away); 1959 Riot (approx. ¼ mile away); 1931 Administration Building (approx. ¼ mile away); 1870-1931 Federal Building (approx. ¼ mile away); 1912 Cell House (approx. ¼ mile away); 1896 Cell House (approx. 0.3 miles away); Safeway (approx. 0.3 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Deer Lodge.

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, August 7, 2022

3. Trask Hall

Photographed by Barry Swackhamer, September 1, 2020

4. Trask Hall

Credits. This page was last revised on November 10, 2022. It was originally submitted on November 10, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 241 times since then and 27 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4. submitted on November 10, 2022, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California.