Built in 1893, this is an excellent example of vernacular adaptation of Romanesque architecture, with its arched windows, checkerboard banding, and rusticated granite sills. Today the building has been restored on its façade and east and west sides . . . — — Map (db m144562) HM
Mary Gleim, one of Missoula’s most colorful characters, built this “female boarding house” at the heart of the red light district between 1893 and 1902. It operated as a brothel until progressive reforms closed the district in 1916. The . . . — — Map (db m144561) HM
Changing architectural tastes are central to the story of this elegant home, built for Henry and Leah Greenhood. A successful liquor wholesaler and real estate developer, Henry was one of Missoula’s early Jewish residents, arriving here by 1904. He . . . — — Map (db m144273) HM
An exuberant ambassador of the late nineteenth century and its more Spartan complement comprise this architectural duet, whose history spans Missoula’s development. The older and more impressive Headquarters Building, designed by architect John . . . — — Map (db m144581) HM
The Tudor style as it evolved from medieval England to twentieth-century America is well expressed in this charming one-story home. Hollow tile faced with smooth brick, gables with decorative brackets, and a gabled and round arched doorway are . . . — — Map (db m144235) HM
The prestigious architectural firm of Link and Haire designed this handsome residence, which reflects the Midwestern taste of its first owner, John M. Keith. Son of a farmer from New Brunswick, Canada, Keith came to Missoula in 1881. Taking a job as . . . — — Map (db m144240) HM
Full-length Doric columns make a bold architectural statement, drawing the eye to this imposing neoclassical style home. Butte architect J. F. Everett drew upon the style popularized following the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition. The 1902 . . . — — Map (db m144241) HM
Missoula blossomed at the turn of the twentieth century as railroad transportation facilities expanded, securing the town’s prominence as a trade, manufacturing, and lumbering center for western Montana. As Missoula gained importance, this . . . — — Map (db m144490) HM
Missoula architect A. J. Gibson designed this grand Neo-classical style landmark for progressive politician Joseph Dixon. Dixon married Caroline Worden, daughter of Missoula founder Frank Worden, in 1896 and the couple made their home here. Dixon . . . — — Map (db m144760) HM
Dean Arthur Stone pitched four tents near the Oval in 1914, thereby founding the University’s School of Journalism. An old bicycle shed and later World War I army barracks served as quarters for this discipline, then considered “non-essential.” . . . — — Map (db m144117) HM
(Three panels, presented left to right, form the marker.)
Many Cultures Forge Strong Communities
Welcome to Bonner and nearby communities, each built on the grit and dreams of self-made men and women. It you had walked into . . . — — Map (db m123099) HM
Arrival of the Northern Pacific in 1883 brought sweeping changes, and this elaborate 1891 business block is a grand illustration. The railroad prompted major building booms and made architectural pieces and parts readily accessible. Levi Keim, an . . . — — Map (db m144491) HM
In 1896, a Union Hall was constructed here on property donated by copper magnate Marcus Daly. That building served as local headquarters for unions affiliated with Federal Union Local 83, the precursor of the building trade unions that later . . . — — Map (db m144710) HM
Poised on the brink of the homesteading boom, Missoula prospered at the turn of the twentieth century with signs of urban growth evident in the hotels and row houses that began to line this busy corridor. Local contractor/architect Eugene Morin . . . — — Map (db m130298) HM
The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad transformed every aspect of life in Montana, including the food available for purchase. Frank Lindsay opened his first fruit warehouse in Helena in 1883, the year the railroad arrived and made importing . . . — — Map (db m144492) HM
McCormick Park was given to the City of Missoula by the McCormick family, heirs to the estate of W.J. McCormick, one of Missoula’s founders. The pond in McCormick Park is known as “Silver’s Pond” after the family that also donated land . . . — — Map (db m130299) HM
Unlike many neighborhoods in railroad towns, the lots here in Urlin’s Addition were not owned and developed by the Northern Pacific, but sold to private individuals who built rental housing for railroad employees. This gable- front vernacular style . . . — — Map (db m144527) HM
Helena architect George Carsley and New York architect Cass Gilbert designed the campus master plan implemented between 1918 and 1927. Although Carsley continued as consultant on other buildings erected under the plan, this 1922 gymnasium is the . . . — — Map (db m144118) HM
The Neoclassical style sandstone Missoula County Courthouse was designed by prominent local architect A. J. Gibson, and erected 1908-1910. Inside the copper-domed clock tower hangs a two-ton bell, and a notable interior decoration is the series of . . . — — Map (db m144461) HM
Erected by the Auxiliary of the American Legion in Honor of the Men of Missoula County who made the Supreme Sacrifice during the World War.
Hollis R. Honey • Nelson Gautheir • Harry Hendrickson • James Elliott Wright • Guy Lovell • Ole . . . — — Map (db m144489) WM
In 1915, Nettie and Joseph Hagen expanded their Model Laundry Company by purchasing the Missoula Laundry Company and moving their business into the newly completed west section of this building. That original structure and its later additions . . . — — Map (db m144761) HM
Established in 1866 under the name Bonner and Welch, the Missoula Mercantile Company quickly grew into an economic and political powerhouse. In 1890, the company handled about 60 percent of the city’s retail trade, worth $1.5 million. At the turn of . . . — — Map (db m144585) HM
Eugene Ely (1886-1911) was the first pilot to take off and land on a naval ship. The well-known aviator was also the first to fly an airplane in Missoula. On June 28, 1911, he took off and landed at Fort Missoula's nearby baseball field. He made . . . — — Map (db m144337) HM
At the turn of the century, social critics saw apartment living as morally suspect. Instead, single working men and women who could not stay with their families typically lived in rooming or boardinghouses, where housekeepers ostensibly kept an eye . . . — — Map (db m144464) HM
Long before railroads and highways, rivers were the lifelines of travel and trade. The Lewis and Clark Expedition named and described hundreds of rivers as they mapped their way west.
While the expedition camped about 10 miles south of here, . . . — — Map (db m123333) HM
The first building added to the campus after 1908 was this facility, which housed the most modern equipment for all branches of life science research, including a stereopticon and motion picture apparatus. Begun in 1917 and completed in 1919, it was . . . — — Map (db m144095) HM
The placement of this women’s residence hall prohibited further development of a women’s U-shaped dormitory complex as outlined by the Carsley-Gilbert campus master plan of the previous decade. Architects H. E. Kirkemo of Missoula and J. Van . . . — — Map (db m144181) HM
Northern Ohio University graduate Edwin S. Newton came to Missoula in 1890 where up-and-coming architect A.J. Gibson had promised him work. Under Gibson's tutelage, Newton proved an able carpenter and builder. He eventually opened his own . . . — — Map (db m144707) HM
Harold Urey got his start in research while teaching chemistry at UM during 1919-1921. Urey went on to win a Nobel Prize in 1934 for separating the isotope deuterium from hydrogen. During World War II, he directed the search to separate uranium-235 . . . — — Map (db m144149) HM
Constructed in 1922 following the 1918 Carsley-Gilbert campus master plan, this women’s residence was intended to be part of two U-shaped clusters of men’s and women’s dormitories. Its identical contemporary counterpart, Elrod Hall, and Corbin Hall . . . — — Map (db m144206) HM
When the tracks of the Northern Pacific reached Missoula in 1883, it was possibly the most significant event in the town’s history. Reliable transportation transformed the minor trade and lumber center to a major economic and commercial distribution . . . — — Map (db m144771) HM
Generations of Northsiders have grown up in the shadow of the railyards since the Northern Pacific Railroad’s arrival in 1883 transformed Missoula into a modern city. Accepting land as an enticement from A. J. Urlin and other leading businessmen, . . . — — Map (db m144560) HM
Since the late 1400s and the time of Columbus, explorers from all over the world eagerly sought to discover the legendary water route, or "Northwest Passage," that was rumored to bisect the resource-rich interior of the North American continent. . . . — — Map (db m123330) HM
The original Fort Missoula was constructed of log and frame and was neither fortified nor enclosed. The buildings, arranged around the first parade grounds, no longer stand, but their foundations are clearly visible, bordering the area where early . . . — — Map (db m144431) HM
Christopher P. Higgins, a Missoula founder, bought 160 acres in 1887 in this area now known as the Montana Addition. He died in 1889 before the southside building boom, but in his will Higgins directed his heirs to complete unfinished housing . . . — — Map (db m212432) HM
South Higgins Avenue saw rapid commercial growth as a business hub during the period 1915-1925. This Western Commercial style building illustrates the district’s early evolution. Missoula attorney John E. Patterson was serving as judge of the Fourth . . . — — Map (db m212428) HM
M.Y. "Bo" Foster was born in 1911, in Richmond, Virginia, but grew up in part on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Montana near Glacier National Park. After graduating from Yale University, Foster hitchhiked back to Montana in the midst of the . . . — — Map (db m144377) HM
Originally the post exchange, this building served as a recreation hall for the stationed men. The exchange evolved from the post trader’s store, an integral element in early forts where the men could buy staples and supplies. As early as 1888, the . . . — — Map (db m144432) HM
A family residence for 95 years, the Prescott House was built in American Victorian design by miner and cowboy Clarence Prescott Sr. The University acquired the home from Clarence Prescott Jr., who lived here until 1993. Thanks to donors Dennis . . . — — Map (db m144311) HM
Prominent state legislator and county commissioner Charles R. Prescott homesteaded here in 1891, planting a vast orchard of plum, cherry, pear, and apple trees. In 1898, Prescott replaced his original log dwelling with this beautiful Queen Anne . . . — — Map (db m144312) HM
The Great Depression of the 1930s left many people unemployed, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt's “New Deal” created a relief program to put people back to work: the U.S. Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC. . . . — — Map (db m136577) HM
This earth-covered structure, built in 1908, is often thought to be a bomb shelter or ammunition storage. It is actually a root cellar that provided cool storage for large quantities of fresh vegetables and other perishable needs to feed the men . . . — — Map (db m144424) HM
Built in 1908 as the University Library, this neoclassical building was Architect A. J. Gibson's fifth and final contribution to campus. In 1983 it was renamed in honor of 1902 graduate, suffragette and pacifist Jeannette Rankin (1880-1973). . . . — — Map (db m144098) HM
Rattlesnake Creek enters the Clark Fork River across from this point, completing the journey from its headwaters high in the Rattlesnake National Wilderness Area. Missoula’s first building was a two-room log cabin constructed by William T. Hamilton . . . — — Map (db m130323) HM
William and Eliza Reid built this elegant home around 1890. Primarily used as a rental, the house began as a much simpler ell-shaped residence. Widow Jennie Thompson, who rented the home in 1900, lived here with her three grown children, one of whom . . . — — Map (db m144709) HM
Neighboring business owners welcomed the Roxy Theater by purchasing more than a page of newspaper advertisements recognizing “the latest addition to Missoula’s South Side Business District!” Missoula suffered less than most Montana communities . . . — — Map (db m212427) HM
The United States Forest Service's first fire lookouts system was a crude setup of tents and crow's nest lookouts. Watching for wild fires in unpopulated areas was a relatively new idea and was regarded with little importance until the Great Fire . . . — — Map (db m123285) HM
The first men’s residence on campus renamed Elrod Hall, opened in 1923 with seventy student rooms. Like its near-twin Brantly Hall, the facility was originally intended to be part of two U-shaped residential complexes. The Helena architectural firm . . . — — Map (db m144156) HM
Jesuits arrived in the Missoula Valley in 1841 en route to the Bitterroot, where they established the first Catholic mission in the Rocky Mountains. In 1873, they opened a chapel in Missoula, building the first St. Francis Xavier Church in 1881. . . . — — Map (db m144462) HM
Classical details add character and prestige to this brick apartment building constructed by Joseph Steiger in 1903. First-story windows with gentle arches soften the strict classical symmetry while eaves trimmed in dentils and a grand entry porch . . . — — Map (db m144755) HM
As the automobile gained popularity in the 1910s, stables and garages existed side by side until motor travel prevailed over horses in the 1920s. The succession of businesses at this address documents the transition that must have been hard on . . . — — Map (db m144459) HM
Missoula architect C. J. Forbis ushered in a new campus building phase in 1935 with the construction of this student union. The building’s placement and modern Art Deco façade broke ranks with the Renaissance Revival style called for in the old . . . — — Map (db m144207) HM
The old post chapel once occupied this site where, in 1940, officials located the fort’s administrative center. Built for $15,300, the tall stucco-covered frame building housed the commanding officer and his staff. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor . . . — — Map (db m123281) HM
The two buildings along Wolf Avenue that are joined today as apartments have separate histories. The older building fronting Second Avenue was listed in the 1890 city directory as a taxidermy shop and residence. By 1893, the wood frame structure . . . — — Map (db m144524) HM
The construction of the Milwaukee Road and the reconstruction of the Northern Pacific Railroad through Missoula sparked a second railroad-era building boom in the early twentieth century. The need for accommodations for both railroad workers and . . . — — Map (db m144769) HM
In 1968 University of Montana Alumni commissioned faculty artist Rudy Autio to sculpt UM's mascot, the Grizzly Bear, From its location on the Ryman Memorial Mall, the beloved bronze landmark with the picturesque Main Hall as a backdrop greets . . . — — Map (db m144171) HM
Just two years after the University's founding in 1893l the Oval was designed as the camps centerpiece. Crossing its lawn was discouraged until walkways were built with bricks that originally cobbled downtown streets. The walking mall's aid bears a . . . — — Map (db m144170) HM
Professor Frederick Scheuch and first university President Oscar Craig created the original campus master plan in 1895. The plan specified that the entrances of all immediate and future campus buildings were to face the center of a large oval. Ovals . . . — — Map (db m144169) HM
Missoula’s first commercial district developed southwest of the Northern Pacific Railroad depot in the 1880s and 1890s. But as the town blossomed, a new central business district began to take shape. The Palace Hotel, constructed at what was then . . . — — Map (db m144460) HM
The turn of the century decade began one of transition and progress and is considered the first decade of materialism and consumerism.
A Tribute to Milltown Dam
The growth of Montana's lumber industry was dependent on the . . . — — Map (db m123097) HM
Fronting the Oval at the heart of the campus, the university’s oldest standing building, also known as Main Hall, proudly represents the birth of this noble institution. Celebrated Missoula architect A. J. Gibson designed the Richardsonian . . . — — Map (db m144115) HM
Of the eight campus buildings constructed on the Carsley-Gilbert master plan, the library appropriately best expresses the Renaissance Revival style. Billings architects McIver and Cohagen designed this architectural gem with its Spanish tile . . . — — Map (db m306356) HM
This enduring landmark was the fifth and final contribution to the campus by renowned Missoula architect A. J. Gibson. A work of exquisite craftsmanship and the university’s only example of Neo-classical architecture, the dramatic classical portico . . . — — Map (db m144097) HM
In Honor of the Faculty, Alumni,
and Undergraduates of the
State University of Montana
Who Served in the World War and in Memory of
These Who Gave Their Lives in Service
Ian G. Anderson • Virgil Bostwick • Lester Brennan • Roy . . . — — Map (db m144276) WM
In Memory of
Sergeant Ernest Veuve, U.S. Army.
Recipient of the Medal of Honor for
Conspicuous Gallantry Beyond the Call
of Duty at Staked Plains, Texas, 1874. — — Map (db m144335) HM WM
Architects designing campus buildings between 1935 and 1939 were faced with a dilemma. Should they choose the Renaissance Revival style of most previous campus buildings or opt for the modern designs prevailing throughout the nation? In a . . . — — Map (db m144155) HM
Construction of this women’s residence, dedicated in 1903, attests to Montana’s early commitment to coeducation. Architect A. J. Gibson chose the simple, elegant Second Renaissance Revival style for his third campus building. Deviating from the . . . — — Map (db m144152) HM
Arrival of the Milwaukee Railroad in 1908 created a new demand for housing. Now a four-plex but originally a duplex, this flat-roofed, two-story rental property was undoubtedly built to help fill the market for appropriate, middle-class housing. . . . — — Map (db m218961) HM
Julia and Aaron Conner homesteaded in the Bitterroot Valley in 1882 where they prospered and raised six children. Aaron was elected judge at Darby in 1886 and served as Speaker of the House in the Montana legislature in 1900 and 1903. After Aaron . . . — — Map (db m219044) HM
Elegant Colonial Revival and classical stylistic elements define the architecture of this two-and-one-half-story residence. Round columns support the open front porch while hipped roof dormers add living space and light. Boxed eaves, an ornately . . . — — Map (db m218962) HM
Hilda Reed purchased this lot for $600 on January 16, 1907, shortly after she moved to Missoula with her husband Theodore, their daughter, Hulda, and her brother-in-law Andrew. A second daughter, Theodora, arrived shortly thereafter. Both . . . — — Map (db m219039) HM
The tracks of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railway were laid across Montana between 1907 and 1909. Completion of this final transcontinental line and the fierce competition it generated renewed interest in the railroads. Its . . . — — Map (db m250115) HM
This footbridge marks one entrance to Missoula's Southside Historic District which was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. Platted by Judge Hiram Knowles in 1889, this district contains excellent examples of Queen Anne, . . . — — Map (db m269893) HM
Architect A. J. Gibson—best known locally for his work on the Missoula Courthouse—designed this fashionable residence at the height of Queen Anne style. Built on two lots sometime before 1902, its defining features include an irregular roofline, . . . — — Map (db m218959) HM
Frank Lloyd Wright developed the Prairie style because he believed that “Democracy needed something basically better than the box.” One of few homegrown architectural styles, its horizontal emphasis is the Prairie style hallmark. Attorney John E. . . . — — Map (db m218958) HM
Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad administrators envisioned a bustling warehouse district paralleling its spur line along South Fourth St. East. That district never materialized, but by 1912, the warehouse stood here, kitty-corner to the . . . — — Map (db m218960) HM
(Two panels make up this marker.)
At 10,157 feet in elevation, magnificent Trapper Peak rises higher than any other peak in the 200 mile-long Bitterroot Mountain Range that extends along the Idaho-Montana border from the Snake River . . . — — Map (db m123595) HM
With material and manpower redirected to winning the fight against fascism, commercial and domestic construction practically ceased during World War II. After the war, pent up demand led to a mini construction boom. With very few lots left on the . . . — — Map (db m123588) HM
Hamilton’s Ministerial Association opened the first free library in Ravalli County in April 1903 in a room donated by the Ravalli County Bank. Three months later, Hamilton voters levied a one mill tax to support the library, and the enterprise . . . — — Map (db m123589) HM
Town halls originated in twelfth-century Italy, where bells were rung to call public assemblies. Missoula architect A. J. Gibson’s city hall design references this history. Allusions to Italy include such Italian Renaissance features as a . . . — — Map (db m123555) HM
Riverside served as the summer residence of Margaret Daly, widow of copper magnate Marcus Daly, from its completion in 1910 until her death here in 1941. Daly himself had begun buying Bitterroot Valley land in 1887, eventually owning 28,000 acres. . . . — — Map (db m123551) HM
“No year has favored the business section like 1910. And best of all, the buildings are of a better class than last year,” enthused the Ravalli Republic. Part of this boom, the First National Bank building replaced two wooden . . . — — Map (db m123590) HM
Hamilton was born of the Anaconda Company’s voracious appetite for lumber, nurtured on the Bitterroot apple boom, and sustained by medical research. Copper King Marcus Daly—whose Big Mill cut millions of board feet annually to feed his mines . . . — — Map (db m123553) HM
Copper king Marcus Daly established local logging operations
and platted the town of Hamilton in 1890 to fuel his Anaconda
copper mining ventures. When Ravalli County was carved from
Missoula County in 1893, Stevensville won designation . . . — — Map (db m306357) HM
State officials turned out on January 21, 1937, for the grand opening of Hamilton’s new telephone system. The event marked the modernization of telecommunications in the Bitterroot Valley. Ivan C. Gustafson owned this property and built the . . . — — Map (db m123554) HM
When construction began on Hamilton’s post office in August 1940, the worst of the Depression was over. Nevertheless, the building is a legacy of the New Deal, when the number of federal construction projects soared to put people to work. Montana . . . — — Map (db m123552) HM
In the Hellgate Treaty negotiations (1855), Xwetxxcln (Plenty Horses or chief Victor) and the Selíš people rebuffed efforts of US officials to get them to abandon the choice lands of their ancestral Bitterroot Valley. After Xwetxxcln died, settlers . . . — — Map (db m123513) HM
From time immemorial, the Bitterroot Valley has been a central part of the aboriginal territory of the Salish people. Although the tribe is now based on the Flathead Indian Reservation north of Missoula, the Bitterroot remains a place of great . . . — — Map (db m123550) HM
Calvin and Magdalene Cook came to Montana from Kansas in 1880 and settled near Stevensville. Like many early settlers, the Cooks’ intent was to farm. After more than a decade of farming, however, business opportunities in Stevensville beckoned and . . . — — Map (db m123449) HM
The DeNayer House is a fine example of transitional Queen Anne/Colonial Revival style architecture. The combination hipped and gabled roof and irregular floorplan are characteristic of the Queen Anne style while corner pilasters and clapboard siding . . . — — Map (db m123509) HM
The Stevensville Baptist congregation first organized as the Etna Baptist Church of Christ at the nearby Etna schoolhouse in 1882. In 1884, the growing membership purchased land in Stevensville and hired talented Missoula architect Thomas W. . . . — — Map (db m123451) HM
The First State Bank Building was built on the site of the first Ravalli County Courthouse.
It is a well-preserved example of the classical-revival commercial style of early 20th century architecture.
The First State Bank . . . — — Map (db m123444) HM
Fort Owen’s log and adobe walls witnessed dramatic changes as the Bitterroot Valley emerged from remote wilderness to settled agricultural community. The Jesuit fathers who had established St. Mary’s Mission nearby in 1841 closed their doors in . . . — — Map (db m123510) HM
When the Gleason Building was built on the southeast corner of Main and 2nd Street, a furniture store was an opportune investment.
The Gleason Furniture Company occupied the first floor of this building.
Later in the 1920s, the upper . . . — — Map (db m123387) HM
The Henry Buck/Stevensville Trading Co. was constructed in response to the rapid influx of people putting down roots in the Bitterroot Valley during the homestead and apple boom eras.
Large general merchandise stores were in great demand at . . . — — Map (db m123441) HM
The is one of the first and oldest brick buildings in town.
In 1893 the Hunter Building was used as a saloon. Due to the Temperance movement in the early 1900s the saloon's license was revoked.
After this time it went through a series . . . — — Map (db m123386) HM
The Independent Order of Odd Fellows building was built during the period of optimism and growth in Stevensville.
The IOOF Hall played a significant humanitarian and social roll in the community.
The upper level was . . . — — Map (db m123390) HM
The Porter & Buck Building thrived as a grocery store until 1922.
Porter and Buck Brothers served the growing population settling in the Bitterroot Valley.
Beautiful glass tiles accent the transom and give it an artistic flair. . . . — — Map (db m123446) HM
Established in 1841 by Pierre DeSmet, S.J., in response to requests for Black Robes by four separate delegations sent by Flathead and Nez Perce tribes to St. Louis. Fr. DeSmet and his party erected Montana's first church immediately west on the bank . . . — — Map (db m123521) HM
Jesuit priests and lay brothers founded St. Mary’s Mission—the first mission in the Northwest—near this site in 1841. The Jesuits closed the mission in 1850, returning in 1866. For the next quarter century, they helped the Salish adapt . . . — — Map (db m123447) HM
