Historical Markers and War Memorials in Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is the county seat for Gallatin County
Bozeman is in Gallatin County
Gallatin County(130) ► ADJACENT TO GALLATIN COUNTY Broadwater County(11) ► Jefferson County(19) ► Madison County(125) ► Meagher County(4) ► Park County(68) ► Fremont County, Idaho(20) ► Park County, Wyoming(196) ► Teton County, Wyoming(83) ►
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Jim Bridger (1804-1881), the infamous mountain man, was a celebrated trapper, explorer, outdoorsman, and guide. Extensively traveling and mapping the Rocky Mountain West, Bridger's explorations established many of the trails and passages in . . . — — Map (db m206116) HM
An 1889 map shows this single-story balloon-frame residence, home to dentist John McComb and his wife Mildred by 1900. The house was a short walk from McComb’s office at 116 West Main, and he remained in the neighborhood when he moved around the . . . — — Map (db m192149) HM
Built before 1889, this one-story residence predates the city water system’s arrival to the neighborhood two years later. A bay window and an open front porch (now enclosed) distinguished the gable front-and-wing house, which became home in 1900 to . . . — — Map (db m192151) HM
Martin J. Plumb, wife Nancy, and their two grown children moved into their new bungalow in the fall of 1916. Builders Glenn Knodle and Frank McCabe built the house using catalog home plans and lumber from Kenyon-Noble Lumber Company. The house was . . . — — Map (db m192150) HM
A two-story wooden residence sat at the rear of this lot, adjoining the alley, in 1889. A year later, owners built this remarkably well-preserved house on Lamme. Distinguishing the brick home are an inviting front porch, tall chimney, decorative . . . — — Map (db m192061) HM
An 1884 map shows a wooden block with a trio of businesses here: a saloon, variety theatre, and fruit market. By 1912, the building housed a secondhand store. Sometime before 1927, the old wooden block was torn down, replaced by this one-story brick . . . — — Map (db m191992) HM
Built in 1904, this Colonial Revival style home reflects a renewed interest in America’s colonial heritage and combines elements of the emerging Craftsman style. The main body is a square with bay window columns on each side for balance and light. . . . — — Map (db m192370) HM
A handsome oak stairway is the centerpiece of this beautifully crafted Queen Anne style home built circa 1905. Dr. Louis Safley, a Bozeman physician, may have been the original owner, but prominent Pass Creek rancher Louis Accola and his extended . . . — — Map (db m192178) HM
Open fields of wheat once stretched in front of this home built by carpenter Amos R. Howerton and his brother circa 1903. Its steeply pitched gables and gracious wraparound porch are hallmarks of the eclectic Queen Anne style. On its prominent . . . — — Map (db m192183) HM
Open air porches, a half-hexagonal bay window, stained glass, and an irregular roofline make this late-nineteenth-century residence a classic example of the Queen Anne style. Built in the mid-1890s likely from pattern book plans, the substantial . . . — — Map (db m192377) HM
The Beall Park Community Center owes its existence to Ella Clark Martin, who arrived in Gallatin County in 1889. While her husband Broox helped establish the Bozeman Milling Company and became president of the Commercial National Bank, Ella raised . . . — — Map (db m192450) HM
In 1903, an architectural journal called apartment buildings “the most dangerous enemy American domesticity has had to encounter.” The article’s author joined a chorus of critics who claimed that the proximity of bedrooms to living areas—and the . . . — — Map (db m192148) HM
The advent of the Northern Pacific Railroad in the early 1880s triggered a building boom in Bozeman that lasted until the end of the decade. This modest T-shaped dwelling, constructed in 1889, signaled the end of intense building activity. Although . . . — — Map (db m192369) HM
Steel baron Andrew Carnegie viewed public libraries as a key agent of self improvement and donated roughly $41 million for the construction of 1,679 public libraries between 1886 and 1917. The Bozeman Classical Revival landmark, one of seventeen . . . — — Map (db m192027) HM
The grand opening of the Bozeman Hotel and Annex in 1891 brought 500 theater-goers to the celebration. A temporary footbridge was constructed across Main Street between the second stories of the hotel and theater so that quests could come and go . . . — — Map (db m191980) HM
Built in 1886, the Nelson and Ellen Story Mansion stood at the corner of West Main and 5rh Avenue. The Story residence was dismantled in 1838 as part of the Gallatin High expansion. Salvaged porch columns and balustrades now mark the Story family . . . — — Map (db m192059) HM
When Montana achieved statehood in 1889, Bozeman was more cowtown than cosmopolitan as it vied with other towns to become the state capital. Architect George Hancock of Fargo, North Dakota, put form to Bozeman’s aspirations by designing several . . . — — Map (db m191975) HM
Sacajawea, the Shoshone woman who guided portions of the Lewis and Clark Expedition led Captain Wm. Clark and his party of ten men over an old buffalo road through this pass on July 15, 1806. They were eastward bound and planned to explore the . . . — — Map (db m162423) HM
The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), founded in England in 1844, made its way to the United States in the 1850s. By the turn of the century, many American cities boasted YMCA facilities providing reasonable accommodations and physical . . . — — Map (db m192069) HM
Seventeen-year-old Julius Lehrkind fled compulsory service in the German militia by stowing away on a ship bound for America in 1860. Already having served as a brewmaster’s apprentice, Lehrkind easily found employment. Eight years later, a sizable . . . — — Map (db m192443) HM
The 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego raised the profile of the Mission style, and the style became popular among cosmopolitan Montanans through the 1930s. Built in 1909, this two-story Mission Style home, patterned on Southern . . . — — Map (db m192237) HM
Built in 1910, the Thomas Byron Story Mansion and Carriage House were designed by renowned architect C. S. Haire, known for his work on the Montana state capitol addition. Haire’s plan for T. Byron Story, his wife Katherine Ferris, and their five . . . — — Map (db m192236) HM
Attorney Charles S. Hartman deserves a prominent place among Bozeman’s early residents. He opened a law practice in 1884 and with his wife Mollie built this home in 1886. Hartman carved a stellar career that included serving as a delegate to the . . . — — Map (db m192239) HM
The Dokken-Nelson Funeral Home business commissioned this building from Bozeman’s prolific early twentieth century architect, Fred F. Willson, and it is indicative of Willson’s diversity of styles. Upon the building’s completion in 1936, Hermann . . . — — Map (db m192066) HM
Development was sparse in this neighborhood in the early 1900s, but by the mid-1910s, construction boomed around Cooper Park. This classic Colonial Revival style home was built on a choice lot diagonally across from Cooper Park circa 1919. The park, . . . — — Map (db m192184) HM
Bozeman's enthusiastic bid to become Montana's capital began upon statehood in 1889 with the construction of impressive buildings here at Rouse Avenue and Main Street. An obstacle facing building contractors was Sour Dough Creek. A fieldstone barrel . . . — — Map (db m191979) HM
Bozeman’s extensive streetcar system offered reliable transportation from 1892 until 1922. In 1901, the Gallatin Light, Power, and Railway Company built this facility as an office and barn for its trolleys. After 1904 when the second story was . . . — — Map (db m191993) HM
Deeply admired in the 1890s, the Queen Anne style began to lose its allure after 1900, when its artistic jumble of angles and textures began to seem cluttered. The rejection of complexity was gradual, however, and many homebuilders opted for more . . . — — Map (db m192064) HM
"from the three forks of the Easterly fork of the Galletines River to the river Rochejhone is 18 miles on an excellent high dry firm road the very incoiderable hills." William Clark, July 15, 1806
Captain William Clark, of the Lewis . . . — — Map (db m206115) HM
Cattle baron, banker, and entrepreneur Nelson Story purchased this site in 1870 for $154. In June 1911 the United States Secretary of the Treasury took the land from Nelson Story Jr. and his family citing that public use required taking and holding . . . — — Map (db m192070) HM
For centuries distant and diverse tribes visited the Gallatin Valley to hunt. They stampeded buffalo over cliffs during the "dog days" before the acquisition of horses and guns. They hunted animals for food, clothing and shelter. They also mined . . . — — Map (db m29075) HM
Conflicts along the Bozeman Trail between Lakota, Northern Cheyenne, and Arapaho Indians and settlers escalated with the establishment of forts along the route in 1866. After Indians killed John Bozeman, in the Yellowstone Valley in 1867, the . . . — — Map (db m29079) HM
Established as a military post August 27, 1867 by order of
President Andrew Johnson and General U.S. Grant
the post was abandoned in December 1886
Captain Wm. Clark
of the Lewis and Clark Expedition
encamped here July 14, 1806 with his . . . — — Map (db m98279) HM
At the dawn of the twentieth century Bozeman emerged the undisputed economic and cultural center of the Gallatin Valley. A growing number of businessmen and professionals settled in the residential area south of Main Street, where a few prominent . . . — — Map (db m192176) HM
An abundance of beaver encouraged Corps of Discovery members John Colter and John Potts to return to the headwaters. In 1808, Blackfeet Indians killed Potts in a confrontation and stripped Colter bare, giving him a chance to run for his life. In one . . . — — Map (db m29077) HM
A livery and feed stable stood here in the 1880s and 1890s, but in 1901, William Nevitt, hardware store owner and “capitalist,” decided that downtown Bozeman could use more commercial space. The Avant Courier reported on the progress of his new . . . — — Map (db m192026) HM
The museum, located next to the Gallatin County Courthouse at 317 West Main, was the former county jail. Along with many museum exhibits showcasing the history of Gallatin County is an historical research library, the photo archives, and one of the . . . — — Map (db m193258) HM
Chartered in 1866, Gallatin Masonic Lodge No. 6 built this brick corner block in 1883 for an estimated $20,000, then a princely sum. The grandest of several buildings erected during the early 1880s following the arrival of the railroad, this Masonic . . . — — Map (db m192021) HM
Bozeman real estate and insurance broker Edward M. Gardner and city treasurer George Willson commissioned this extended family home in 1907. George was married to Edward’s stepdaughter Florence and the two families—including five Willson boys—shared . . . — — Map (db m192238) HM
Before the 1880s, Catholic missionary priests visited Bozeman about four times a year, holding Mass in private homes and rented halls. The community built its first Catholic church for the Holy Rosary Parish in 1885 at present day Seventh Street and . . . — — Map (db m192025) HM
Recognizing the need for a luxury hotel, Bozeman businessmen joined together in a collaboration that spanned nearly a century. Culminating in the opening of the Hotel Baxter on March 2, 1929, the effort involved several generations of dedicated . . . — — Map (db m192024) HM
Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery reached the headwaters of the Missouri River and named the three tributaries in July, 1805. With great difficulty the Corps of Discovery fought rapids and troublesome mosquitoes as they pulled their boats . . . — — Map (db m29072) HM
This boulder marks the Trail of the Lewis and Clark Expedition 1805. Erected by the Mt. Hyalite Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1923. — — Map (db m145672) HM
This diminutive neighborly district of thirty-four rather modest, early homes was surveyed and platted as Lindley and Guy’s Addition in anticipation of the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad. A lumber planing operation occupied the northwest . . . — — Map (db m192152) HM
A Northern Pacific spur line ran in front of this warehouse, originally railroad owned and built in the 1880s for the cold storage of produce. The brick walls are four layers thick with a central air space to maximize insulation; a chute conveyed . . . — — Map (db m192448) HM
Built in 1905, Malmborg School is one of the most architecturally interesting one-room schoolhouses in Gallatin County. The one-story octagonal school originally sported an open front porch with wooden Doric columns resting on high plinths. An open . . . — — Map (db m191973) HM
The design for this two-and-one-half-story home came from architect D. S. Hopkins, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who published numerous “pattern books” of architectural plans. The Queen Anne style defines the residence, which features an asymmetrical . . . — — Map (db m192373) HM
Gallatin County boasted twenty-seven grain elevators in 1915, a testament to farming’s important economic role. Despite drought and low commodity prices, Montana Mercantile added this towering elevator to the Bozeman skyline in 1933. It added the . . . — — Map (db m192445) HM
The twenty-eight homes along this stretch of North Tracy Avenue illustrate the extensive residential development that occurred north of Main Street. Impressive homes at 322 and 316 North Tracy, built in 1890 and 1900, and two bungalows at 519 and . . . — — Map (db m192451) HM
As Bozeman made its bid for state capital, the construction of fashionable homes and buildings contributed to the town’s promotional efforts. Economic depression in 1893 and designation of Helena as state capital in 1894 tempered the boomtown . . . — — Map (db m192376) HM
The Pioneer Museum, located next to the Gallatin County Courthouse at 317 West Main, was the former County jail. Along with many museum exhibits showcasing the history of Gallatin County is an Historical Research Library. The photo archives, and one . . . — — Map (db m29085) HM
A full-length front porch welcomed visitors to the clapboard home constructed on this lot in 1904. Robert and Edith Cooley purchased the residence from Golden Rule bookkeeper R. A. Black the following year. The couple had moved to Bozeman in 1899 . . . — — Map (db m192235) HM
The first services were held in this lovely Gothic style Episcopal church in October 1890. Built at a time when Bozeman hoped to become the capital of Montana, the church reflects the optimism and prosperity that came on the heels of the gold rush . . . — — Map (db m192067) HM
Optimistic Bozeman entrepreneurs John Dickerson, Walter Cooper, and Nelson Story (of cattle drive fame) platted the Park Addition in 1883. Despite the arrival of the Northern Pacific that year, the addition remained undeveloped until the late 1890s, . . . — — Map (db m192180) HM
On July 14, 1806 Captain William Clark accompanied by 11 members of the expedition party camped about a mile east of here on the flat at the mouth of Kelly Canyon. The next day, Sacajawea guided the party up the canyon on an old buffalo trail to a . . . — — Map (db m98296) HM
President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law on May 20, 1862. The Homestead Act declared the, "any citizen or intended citizen could claim 160 acres - one quarter square mile - of surveyed government land. Claimants must 'improve' the . . . — — Map (db m205925) HM
Missourian, William Tinsley traveled to Montana in 1864 to stake his own homestead claim in Willow Creek, MT. William and his soon to be wife, Lucy Ann Nave met in Virginia City, MT where William worked for the Wells Fargo Stage Company and Lucy . . . — — Map (db m205924) HM
The Museum of the Rockies acquired the Tinsley house in 1986, which helped complete the plans for a working Living History Farm exhibit. The house was moved from Willow Creek, MT in one piece and restored to its original 1890s condition. After . . . — — Map (db m205926) HM
Thomas and Anna Noble came to Bozeman in 1890 from Salesville. Thomas, an experienced logger, secured employment with the Prey Lumber Company. After S. C. Kenyon purchased the firm, Kenyon and Noble became partners in the business, furnishing early . . . — — Map (db m192177) HM
Railroad anticipation sparked a frenzied building boom prompting a shortage of brick that postponed completion of this popular watering hole for nearly two years. Begun in 1880, Phil Skeehan’s Tivoli Beer Hall finally opened in 1882. William Beall . . . — — Map (db m192023) HM
First Peoples utilized the valley for over 11,000 years before the arrival of Lewis & Clark, and the others that would follow. Trails brought cattle and homesteaders to an agricultural paradise. The military followed, defending settlers, consuming . . . — — Map (db m29084) HM
Settlers came to the Gallatin Valley on the heels of the first Montana gold strike at Grasshopper Creek near Bannack, Montana, in 1862. As Meriwether Lewis had predicted, farmers found the valley well suited for agriculture. They planted crops and . . . — — Map (db m29078) HM