About 350 million years ago, much of Montana was submerged under a shallow sea. Billions of tiny marine creatures thrived in the water and when they died their bodies settled into the muck on the sea bed. After hundreds of millions of years of . . . — — Map (db m71505) HM
The limestone feature (outcrop), located across the road, known as the Madison Limestone Formation, was deposited about 350 million years ago in a shallow sea. It was uplifted about 65 million years ago during the Laramide Orogeny (when the Rocky . . . — — Map (db m80318) HM
The Flint Creek Valley has, according to archeologist, been the home to humans for around 10,000 years. Fur trappers and traders frequented the valley in the early 19th century. Prospectors discovered gold in the Granite Mountains and on Henderson . . . — — Map (db m212347) HM
Before his death in 1896, pioneering Jewish businessman William Weinstein owned many lots, including this one, in Philipsburg. By 1902, his daughter Alice Weinstein Hannah owned the property and the one-story wooden dwelling that stood on the site, . . . — — Map (db m205462) HM
Local rancher Lee Degenhart financed the construction of this building in 1910. Fred Haverty, a contractor from Hal, Montana, who later ran a car dealership here in Philipsburg, was the builder. Design features include the original ornamental leaded . . . — — Map (db m45224) HM
The tramway was constructed in 1889 to carry ore from the Blaine Shaft in Granite to the Bi-Metallic Mill in Kirkville, near Philipsburg. The Bi-Metallic aerial tramway was 9750 feet long with a vertical drop of 1225 feet, and was the longest aerial . . . — — Map (db m49547) HM
Built circa 1887, Lutey's Grocery and the Barrett and Jacky Harness Shop originally shared occupancy of this one-story commercial building. By the 1890s, Valentine Jacky shared this building with C. T. Huffman who supplied groceries to Philpsburg . . . — — Map (db m45226) HM
Brothers Morris and Humphery Courtney built this multi-purpose building in 1918 with the profits from manganese mining acquired during World War I. The building speaks to the coming of the automobile as the basement housed the Granite County Garage . . . — — Map (db m49371) HM
In the 1880s and 1890s, masonry structures gradually replaced the frame buildings left from Philipsburg’s mining camp days. Doe and Hoyer constructed this commercial brick building in 1887. Modini’s Grand Hotel and Restaurant was located in the west . . . — — Map (db m205451) HM
Reverend Milton Cook organized Philipsburg’s first Presbyterian congregation in 1877 and Reverend George Edwards came from Missoula to preach once a month. But it was not until 1891 that Reverend Samuel Wishard established a permanent Presbyterian . . . — — Map (db m205541) HM
The first permanent home for Granite County offices was completed in 1913. Prominent Montana architects John Link and Charles Haire designed the building. Its cut stonework is, appropriately, made of Montana granite. Granite County commissioners . . . — — Map (db m45229) HM
The Granite County Jail was constructed in 1896, three years after Granite County was carved from two adjacent counties and Philipsburg made the county seat. The town served as a hub to extensive area mining and, later, ranching. The jail was the . . . — — Map (db m45228) HM
Granite Mtn. Mine located July 6, 1875 and operated by the Granite Mtn. Company.
A rich silver bonanza shoot was discovered in Nov. 1882. The mine closed in 1893 and reopened again in 1911 and 1912 and operated for a brief time. — — Map (db m49540) HM
This two-story building, constructed in about 1885, was one of the first structures in Granite, and housed the brick vault that is seen here. The mining office handled the payroll for the men who worked at the Ruby Shaft and the two mills on the . . . — — Map (db m49629) HM
The excellent design and spacious interior of this two-story commercial building represents Philipsburg’s prosperity and substantial population during the 1890s. Constructed for J.K. Merrill and Sons between 1892 and 1894, Freyschlag Huffman and . . . — — Map (db m49370) HM
In July 1878, a band of Nez Perce Indians returning south from Canada after eluding U.S. Cavalry, crossed what is now Granite County. While passing through they attacked a small mining camp located on a tributary of Rock Creek at McKay Gulch. Three . . . — — Map (db m45211) HM
Michael Kaiser, founder of Philipsburg Water Company, built this grand hotel in 1881. One of Philipsburg's oldest masonry structures, the original hotel boasted a wrap-around porch extending halfway around the building. Second-story French doors, . . . — — Map (db m45218) HM
Meetings in Philipsburg of Flint Creek Lodge No. 11 date back to 1867. This structure, built in 1911, provided a permanent home for the community-oriented fraternal organization. Chambers for lodge meetings occupy the entire top floor. The ground . . . — — Map (db m45222) HM
Prominent businessman Angus A. McDonald constructed this two-story masonry theater in 1891. A metal-covered stage loft rises above the roof as evidence of the structures historic function. Beneath the south end were dressing rooms for the traveling . . . — — Map (db m49373) HM
The Granite Mountain Mining Company constructed two mills adjoining the mining operation know[n] as the Ruby Shaft. These structures, Mill A and Mill B, housed a total of 70 stamp mills which processed ore. Stamp mills were used to crush the ore so . . . — — Map (db m49631) HM
Built in 1890 at a cost of $23,000, this three-story building was once the social center of a bustling mining town. The first floor was constructed of native granite. The cast iron front held 6 large windows and small colored glass panes. The upper . . . — — Map (db m49628) HM
Colonel J.W. Morse built Morse Hall in 1887. This elaborately detailed public lecture hall also served as county courthouse after 1893, an opera house, town hall, library and general community center. Its splendid second story dance floor was the . . . — — Map (db m45213) HM
During the 1880s masonry structures began to replace wood-framed buildings from the mining camp days to form the present town. George H. Harn, who at that time ran one of two local brickyards, probably built this fine residence with his own bricks. . . . — — Map (db m205544) HM
Philipsburg's early-day fortunes ebbed and flowed with mining. Today, its historic district is one of Montana's best preserved late-19th-century mining towns, with commercial, public and private buildings dating from the boom period of silver . . . — — Map (db m45209) HM
Philipsburg's early-day fortunes ebbed and flowed with mining. Today, its historic district is one of Montana's best preserved late-19th-century mining towns, with commercial, public and private buildings dating from the boom period of silver . . . — — Map (db m45210) HM
One of a network of Jewish merchants who supplied miners in the Rocky Mountain West, nineteen-year-old Benjamin Pizer arrived in Helena from Poland with his wife Jessie Silverman and their newborn son David in 1869. With limited capital, he . . . — — Map (db m45217) HM
Most of the ore that brought tremendous riches and fame to Granite was brought out of the Ruby Shaft, operated by the Granite Mountain Mining Company. Several tunnels outside the Ruby Shaft were also important in producing the silver (and some gold) . . . — — Map (db m49544) HM
First known as the Hyde Block, this building was constructed by banker Joseph Hyde and his wife, Mary, in 1888. It housed the First National Bank until the silver crash of 1893. In 1904, Frank Sayrs purchased the building and it has since held a . . . — — Map (db m45220) HM
A beautifully embellished pedimented gable and open porch with spindled balustrade, turned columns, and decorative details highlight this splendid two-and-one-half-story Queen Anne style residence of salmon-colored brick. Mary Schuh, a longtime . . . — — Map (db m205543) HM
In January 1889, St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church opened its doors to hold one of the first services in a church in Philipsburg. Placed within the cornerstone the previous year were a Bible, some coins, names of donors, and a copy of the Philipsburg . . . — — Map (db m205457) HM
The cornerstone for St. Paul’s Methodist Episcopal Church was laid in 1887. Dedicated September 15, 1890, this modest but rather sophisticated structure was one of Philipsburg’s early churches. Choice of brick and prolonged construction reveal the . . . — — Map (db m205459) HM
By 1899, this house stood at the head of Magnolia Avenue, or “Silk Stocking Row,” where the elite of Granite lived. The first floor housed the living quarters for the Superintendent of the Granite Mountain Mining Co. The second floor may . . . — — Map (db m49545) HM
Around the mountain from the mining camp of Cable in 1866 came Polish-born merchant William Weinstein with a wagon-load of goods to sell. He became Philipsburg's first general merchant, constructing the eastern half of this building in the late . . . — — Map (db m45212) HM
Charles A. and Frank J. Wilson, brothers from Wisconsin, built and established their businesses in this building by 1888. The building originally housed a furniture store on one side, a feed store on the other and a miners' boarding house/living . . . — — Map (db m45214) HM
Prominent Missoula architect A. J. Gibson designed and built this two-story commercial building in 1905. The fine design includes a metal modillioned cornice and panels with a full height glass storefront and polished granite skirt below. The Walker . . . — — Map (db m45223) HM
