Architect Loren B. Olds, who arrived in Montana Territory in 1863, designed both the Madison County Courthouse and the original Beaverhead County Courthouse in Bannack (later the Meade Hotel) in 1875. Among the earliest architect-designed buildings…

Following the death of her husband, Henry Elling, in 1900, Mary Elling donated twenty thousand dollars to build a new St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in his honor. An influential merchant and banker, he had been a stalwart supporter of St. Paul’s. The…

E. F. Johnson likely built this shotgun-plan log home by 1869. Like many of his neighbors he eagerly embraced the trappings of civilization. Circa 1875 he, or the next owner, William Thompson, covered the cabin’s logs with clapboard siding,…

Ben Holladay’s Overland Stage opened here in 1864 with stages arriving and departing from this site for connections all over the West and the States. Bought out by Wells Fargo and Company in 1866, the office also housed the telegraph. Thirty years…

George Gohn, a butcher by trade, came to Alder Gulch with the first rush in June of 1863. A member of the vigilance committee and later elected to several county offices, Gohn ran a local meat market. The Gohn family lived in the house next door…

Dredge mining in the late 1890s brought new life to Virginia City and a dire need for modern office and meeting space. In 1896, town citizens voted to issue bonds to build a multipurpose City Hall with space for the city, law offices, and social…

Virginia City’s alleys, just like its main streets, hold many fine examples of territorial-era buildings. This barn, built for surgeon Dr. Ira Smith in 1874, represents a classic Montana horse barn. Virginia City’s earliest barns were built from…

In the mid-1860s stores, hotels, and businesses lined both sides of Jackson Street near Idaho. The road was bustling with pedestrians and noisy teams of horses and wagons traveling on the toll road that led South to Summit. The Tootle, Leach &…

Henry Gilbert and Christian Richter brought German-style lager beer to thirsty Virginia City miners in 1864 and began bottling it in this stone and brick building in 1875. For much of the nineteenth century, American brewers made a heavier,…

Like the Picture Gallery, the Elling Store, and several others, this 1946 building and its neighbor to the left are a faithful reconstruction of the originals. The Elephant Auction House occupied these storefronts from summer 1863 until October…