A Historic Pause: Montana Club, Helena

Posted on March 30, 2024 by carrollvanwest

On Friday, March 29, 2024, the Montana Club closed its doors to patrons. Let’s hope it was a pause and not a terminal event in this 100-year old Helena landmark, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

And landmark it is, with the original design by one of the nation’s preeminent turn of the 20th century architects, Cass Gilbert. The design cam early in his career but it’s a magnificent example of the Renaissance Revival style, in keeping with Gilbert’s love for classical forms. He ended his career with the remarkable classical-style Supreme Court building in our nation’s capital. I have long thought folks in Helena did not appreciate this Cass Gilbert building as one of the state’s great architectural statements.

The Montana Club has delightful public spaces. The basement Rathskeller is a fun Arts and Crafts style room. I probably have had a few too many there.

I know I have had a few too many at the wonderful second floor bar, where generations of skilled bartenders practiced their craft, from which we all benefited.

The adjoining main dining room is gorgeous, and its huge windows allow for stunning views of the city.

Indeed the building is full of bold, imaginative and inspiring spaces. It’s a real jewel in the capital city. Let’s hope its doors don’t stay closed for long.

A fall drive along U.S. 12

Posted on October 8, 2023 by carrollvanwest

When I lived in Helena from 1981 to 1985 one of my favorite jaunts was along U.S. Highway 12 from Townsend to Roundup. It remains so today, 40 years later. My initial interest centered on railroad corridors. Helena to Townsend followed the Northern Pacific Railroad and a good bit of the Missouri River (now Canyon Ferry Lake).

Northern Pacific bridge over Missouri River near Townsend

Missouri River and Canyon Ferry valley near Townsend

It was a brilliant day with fall colors just popping as we left US 287 and turned into the heart of Townsend.

As soon as you leave town to the east you encounter a lovely mix of ranches and irrigated fields until you thread your way through a national forest along Deep Creek.

We decided to continue east by briefly jumping off US 12 and go to Montana 284 so we could follow the Milwaukee Road corridor from Lennep to Martinsdale where we would reconnect with US 12. Two of my travelers had never been to the Milwaukee Road “ghost town” of Lennep. It was a beautiful morning to be there.

You first realize that this abandoned railroad corridor is different when you encounter an electric powerhouse—the Milwaukee Road’s tracks were electrified from Harlowton Montana west to Idaho.

At Lennep the landmarks remain—the Trinity Lutheran Church, the store, the school, a teacher’s cottage and an early notched log house—but all were a little worse for the wear compared to my last visit 10 years earlier.

As we traveled east that morning we quickly moved through the county seats of Harlowton and Ryegate to get to Roundup by lunch. The Musselshell Valley was brilliant even as signs of the old railroad almost disappeared.

Roundup continues its renaissance with new businesses and restored buildings. The town core, clustered around the intersection of US highways 12 and 87, was busy on a fall weekend.

A mural on the great cattle drive of 1989

As I observed a few years ago Roundup residents worked together and created a plan—and the place continues to work the plan, from the adaptive reuse of its historic stone school to the careful stewardship of its historic fairgrounds. It’s impressive.

After Roundup we stopped at two county seats on the return to Helena. Harlowton was rocked by the closing of the Milwaukee Road over 40 years ago. It has struggled to reach the economic comeback achieved at Roundup. But the historic stone buildings have great potential. Three of them are now part of a large museum complex.

Then there’s the newcomer: the Gally’s microbrewery and pub, housed in the 1913 Montana Block.

It’s a great place for local beer and good conversation—and maybe the start of something good for the town.

US Highway 12 was torn up for major repairs when I last visited White Sulphur Springs last decade. The improvement along its population growth and the ever expanding hot springs gives the place a new look, reflected in new catchy fronts to local bars along with new businesses such as a huge Town Pump.

But historic White Sulphur Springs is doing ok too: the New Deal constructed Meagher County Courthouse is still a roadside landmark while the old railroad corridor, just west of the Hot Springs, remains, awaiting its rebirth.

These places are mere highlights along a historic route that’s worth a drive anytime in the fall.

Marysville, a Montana “ghost town”

Posted on July 28, 2023 by carrollvanwest

Marysville was the first mining ghost town that I visited in Montana in 1982. Forty years ago it wasn’t really a ghost town—several families lived there year round. But many buildings were abandoned, in disrepair, even one of the historic churches. Whenever families or friends visited me in Helena, I always took them to Marysville to see what was left because I wondered just what the future of the place would be.

I need not have worried. I had not been in Marysville since 1985 when I visited in May 2023. Today about 80 people live in Marysville—again far from being a ghost town. But so much preservation work had taken place since the 1980s.

Today many historic buildings from c. 1880 to the 1920s help to tell the story of gold mining in Montana at the fabled Drumlummon Mine owned by Thomas Cruse, a mine that overlooked the town. But work remains—other key buildings need their champion to ensure their preservation.

The 1898 Masonic Lodge Building with its impressive brick exterior dates to 1898. Both Mountain Star 130 and Ottawa 51 met in the building.

Another important building was the general store, initially established by Ann and Blibal Betor (Betor was from Lebanon) c. 1898. When I lived in Helena the place was abandoned and in rough shape. A well planned restoration began in 2004 and was finished in 2018.

The general store interior speaks to its conversion into a saloon and dance hall c. 1940.

The former Northern Pacific railroad depot is now home to the town’s bar and cafe.

Another restoration was led by the Hollow family at the town’s Methodist Episcopal church. This 1886 building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church also dates to 1886. Thomas Cruse later took some of his Drumlummon fortune and donated it for the construction of the Cathedral of St. Helena in Helena, MT.

The Marysville Pioneer Memorial Building contains a museum about the town and its mining history.

The people who call Marysville home have been remarkable stewards. By keeping the town alive they also have preserved a special place in Montana’s mining past.

Whitehall revisited

Posted on July 26, 2023 by carrollvanwest

I last addressed Whitehall, a town along the historic US 10 route (Montana Highway 2) seven years ago. I have always liked this place, as a crossroads (Montana 55 and2) and for its 20th century history as a sugar beet refinery town.

Passing through in May 2023, I realized that I had not said much about the town’s roadside art—especially murals. Is there a better decorated pawn shop than Community Pawn on Legion Avenue (Montana 2)?

Just down the street is a mural celebrating Whitehall itself on the side of the Star Theater.

Of purse Whitehall also has a mural about the Corps of Discovery, telling the story of the Lewis and Clark expedition in Jefferson County.

The Boarders Hotel is a reminder of the age when Montana, not nearby I-90, was a major east-west highway in Montana.

A block north of Legion Avenue is the town’s residential district. Is there a better example of yard art than this bungalow?, especially with its welcoming gate titled “sans souci” (without worry)?

Why worry indeed, when you can always stop at Whitehall’s Mint Bar before continuing your journeys in Jefferson County. cheers!

A new visit to Augusta

Posted on June 6, 2023 by carrollvanwest

I had not been in Augusta since 2016–two years before the foods of June 2018 rattled this northern Lewis and Clark County town.

Old haunts like the Western Bar and the Lazy B Cafe were still operating, looking good.

Recent historic preservation efforts had given a new life and a restored appearance to such as National Register-listed landmarks as the Mack general store and Quinn’s garage.

Quinn’s Garage, 2023. Now listed in the National Register, the garage is restored and open for commercial use.

The Augusta Branch, first established almost 50 years ago, of the Lewis and Clark County Library also had recent renovations and a new ramp. A great place for more information about this very historic rural Montana town.

And I still love the historic school, both the classical building from the first decades of the 20th century and the more modern styled building from the mid-20th century.

Augusta is a place, as I discussed in this blog in 2016, that is long in history and short in pretense. You need more evidence—just trim around from the school and consider its neighbor, a Masonic Lodge with a concrete block facade fitting a Quonset hut-like structure behind. What a great place.

Bowman’s Corner: Disappearing Rural Crossroads Stores

Posted on June 4, 2023 by carrollvanwest

Forty years ago you expected to find crossroads places—typically a bar/cafe, often with a store and gas pumps—whenever you passed through major highway junctions. At the intersection of Montana Highway 200, which is still a major east-west route, and US Highway 287 stood Bowman’s Corner in northern Lewis and Clark County.

Today the place is there—the building remains while the sign has almost all blown away. Old cars are parked around. A fence tells you not to enter.

Particularly sad to see is where the rodeo corral once stood. I can recall taking a break once and watching some guys practice roping.

Here was a laid back roadside oasis. Not totally gone in 2023–but you wonder if Bowman’s Crossroads is not another crossroads place to be forgotten as the 21st century moves onward.

Transformations in Helena

Posted on July 25, 2021 by carrollvanwest

St Mary’s Catholic Church became a 6th Ward landmark upon its opening in 1910 and a recent renovation will keep the building in community service for another generation.

The sixth ward in Helena in the late nineteenth century was a focal point for the new capital city of Montana. The arrival of the Northern Pacific Railroad and the location of its railroad yards some mile and a half southwest of Last Chance Gulch created a new part of the city with plenty of bars and cafes for rail workers and travelers but also a historic neighborhood that often gets forgotten.

The historic block o& commercial buildings facing the depot

Hap’s has served customers for decades along this commercial block.

Nationally recognized railroad architect Charles Reed of the St Paul firm Reed & Stem designed a new modern passenger station for the Northern Pacific in 1904.

Northern Pacific depot’s clock tower. The passenger station is the centerpiece of the neighborhood’s National Register-listed historic district

The architecturally expressive Northern Pacific passenger station of 1903-1904 led to new investment of brick buildings in the neighborhood but many small vernacular dwellings remained in use and today the neighborhood retains a railroad workers’ feel.

Hap’s Beer Parlor transformed from a rail workers’ hangout to a neighborhood institution. It was a popular place when I lived in Helena almost 40 years ago—it remains legendary.

In 2016 the city of Helena established the Railroad Urban Renewal District which encouraged new investments in the neighborhood and its immediate environs, such as the Vanilla Bean coffee shop and bakery. Another key addition was the Sixth Ward Garden Park, an impressive example of the community garden movement.

The changes in the neighborhood are promising but also challenging as new businesses such as Headwaters brewery move to the outskirts. Let’s hope the modern does not crowd out the historic in Helena’s Sixth Ward.

The Phillipsburg Boom

Posted on July 25, 2021 by carrollvanwest

Over eight years ago I wrote about Phillipsburg as a Victorian mining town that had the “bones” to become a heritage tourism magnet along the Pintlar Scenic Route.

I was astounded at the number of people there in early June 2021 Thursday—not the weekend. Certainly the reputation of the Sweet Shop has grown, and grown. it was a busy place.

The other attraction was just under construction when I visited in 2012. The Phillipsburg Brewery, located in the late 1880s Sayres Building, is a great local micro brewery but you can taste its wares at restaurants statewide.

It’s an impressive adaptive reuse project for even the interior still retains a late 19th century. Not over built or over restored. Just re-energized to serve the town again.

There was a historic change from 2012 at the most unlikely place—the city cemetery. In 2012 I commented on the Victorian theme of several of the burial plots. It remains a remarkable place for that artwork in cast iron.

What was new? A commendable effort to address the silences of the past, in the case of Phillipsburg the large Chinese community who once lived there, worked there, and many prospered there during the mining boom of 1890-1920s.

The Granite County Historical Society in 2014 placed an interpretive marker in the cemetery to tell the story of the Chinese burial ground—located in a corner far from the Victorian center of the cemetery. We are now challenged to learn more about the names on the plaque and understand better their contributions.

The marker stands alone, as did the Chinese community in the era of racial segregation. The burials in this section range from the late 1880s to 1932. When were the headstones removed? I don’t know yet. But here is the place, several names are listed in primary sources. The next steps to end this silence await.

Glendive In 1988: the Business District

Posted on November 23, 2019 by carrollvanwest

In my 1988 work in Montana I sought out Glendive and spent the night there due to a new research project on the Yellowstone Valley (which would yield the book Capitalism on the Frontier in 1993). Glendive was a division point on the Northern Pacific Railroad and some 100 years later it remained a key to the Burlington Northern Line.

A good bit of the historic machine shops (above) still operated in 1988. The depot and railroad offices still dominated the Merrill Avenue business district (below).

The older Northern Pacific lunchroom had been converted to the Chamber of Commerce offices, and visitors center.

Many businesses remained focused on Merrill Avenue, which from the 1910s forward was also the historic route of the Yellowstone Trail and later US Highway 10.

My favorite Merrill Avenue business was the wonderful Art Moderne style of the Luhaven Bar (below). You gots love the black carrera glass and glass block entrance.

Not all architectural delights were along Merrill Avenue. The Dawson County Courthouseis an excellent mid-century modern public building, a real contrast to the town’s traditional Colonial Revival-styled post office from the New Deal era.

But my favorite modernist building was the First National Bank, which was later converted to the town’s public library.

Next posting will include homes from the town’s residential district from the early 20th century to the mid-century as I continue a look back to the Yellowstone River and its towns in 1988.

A return to Cleveland

Posted on May 3, 2019 by carrollvanwest

A delightful story in the Great Falls Tribune this week told of a trip in Blaine County, traveling south from Chinook to the Bear Paws Battlefield and onto the almost ghost towns of Cleveland, Lloyd, and Warrick in Chouteau County. In my 2013 survey I went along part of this route and it brought back fond memories. I posted a few images from Cleveland in an earlier post about the Bear’s Paw National Battlefield and its improvements in interpretation in the last 30 years. Today I will merely post a few additional images from Cleveland–yes, Cleveland, Montana–and my travels from six years ago.

The Tribune writers are certainly correct–it really is a beautiful drive, passing historic ranches, early 20th century abandoned log homes like the one above, and various buttes and outcroppings punctuating the landscape. I actually made the drive hoping that the Cleveland Bar would be open, and I could grab a brew and a burger.

MT Blaine County Cleveland Bar

Alas, it was shut down, but still there, and its crossroads on Peoples Creek Road was still the primary mail delivery spot for the scattered ranches of the county’s southern end.

Across the intersection of Cleveland Road and Peoples Creek Road was the community school, with its teacher dwelling. I always think how interesting but also how challenging it would be to teach and live at the same place. Should these types of buildings, located in rural communities across the northern plains, be better recognized for their unique contributions to American education and culture?

But of course the real attraction to Cleveland was the stories I heard in Montana in the 1980s about the Cleveland rodeo, and sure enough the rodeo grounds were a mere stones throw from the back of the bar.

Another traveler has posted a wonderful montage of the July 4, 2011 rodeo at Cleveland–truly a community affair. I wish that one day soon I can return when the chutes and corral are teeming with livestock and ranch families from miles around gather for an annual event, whose origins stretches back to the early settlement of Blaine County.

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