St. Benedict's Catholic School

1921 — 1950

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 2, 2024

1. St. Benedict's Catholic School Marker

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From the National Register Nomination prepared by Dora E. Swanser, February 1988:
St. Benedict's Catholic School is a substantial, two-story, buff-colored brick building with a full daylight basement located within the west side residential neighborhood of Roundup, Montana. The building is basically rectangular in shape and has a concrete foundation. The facade is symmetrically organized and consists of three bays, with the central bay recessed slightly. A concrete belt course runs at the first-floor windowsill level around the three main elevations. Another belt course at the second-floor lintel level serves to define the parapet and the building is finished with concrete coping. A metal cap was installed over the

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 2, 2024

2. St. Benedict's Catholic School Marker

The marker is on the left side of the west/front entrance.

coping to keep water from deteriorating the building. Crosses set in the brick above the main and side entries serve as reminders of the original function of the building as a Catholic grade school.

St. Benedict's Catholic School is significant due to its association with the hundreds of European immigrants who came to the town of Roundup shortly after the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad established major coal mines here in 1907-08. This school served as an important focal point for the Catholic community and helped preserve the Catholic heritage of the immigrant population as ethnic identities became less distinct in this new American environment. Roundup reached its peak of prosperity in about 1918 at the end of the First World War. The economic impact of the failure of dry land farming and the collapse of the local oil boom is reflected in the closure of all three banks in the community during the early 1920's. Coal production, the mainstay of the local economy, remained high throughout this period, employing from 800-850 men, as demonstrated by the ability of the mine workers from several European countries to support the

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, July 2, 2024

3. St. Benedict's Catholic School (northwest elevation)

Today this building is home to the Musselshell Valley Historical Museum.

construction and operation of a separate school for their children. St. Benedict's embodies the distinctive characteristics of an early 20th century school building and possesses excellent historic architectural integrity. The symmetrical organization of this two-story rectangular masonry block, with its recessed central entry bay marked by a brick architrave, side entrances, central corridor floor plan, and full daylight basement are all features common to period school construction.

Excerpt:  The school was built in 1920-21 to serve the children of Roundup's Catholic immigrant community. Coal production, an oil boom, and homesteading all drove economic and population growth in Roundup during the 1910s, and many of the city's new residents were European immigrants. The city's newly established Catholic community built the school toward the end of Roundup's building boom. Architect John H. Grant, who served as the city's only resident architect, designed the two-story brick building. Various groups of nuns served as the school's teachers, with different orders

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replacing the previous one every few years; when a new order could not be found to replace a departing order in 1950, the school closed for good.