Attorney Torrence MacDonald and wife Nellie built this home circa 1911, shortly after the birth of their oldest child. In 1925, the MacDonalds moved to Helena, where Torrence served as the assistant attorney general. In 1928, attorney Charles Foot,…

When the railroad bypassed Demersville in 1891, many businessmen loaded their buildings onto log rollers, hauling them three miles to the newly platted community of Kalispell. This lot became home to a two-story Demersville building, occupied first…

Alberton came to life when the tracks of the Milwaukee Road were laid through this valley in 1908. Soon in need of a school, the town built its first frame schoolhouse in 1910. Fire claimed the wooden structure in 1916. As classes were held in…

Hard times during the Great Depression intensified in Kalispell because of an influx of new residents from the drought-stricken Midwest. A thirty percent increase in school-age children during the 1930s and residential development of the northwest…

Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman designed this one-of-a-kind neighborhood landmark early in his career in 1924. Known for unique designs, Brinkman’s creativity is particularly evident here in the picturesque lattice used as architectural ornament.…

A stuccoed diamond pattern tops this circa 1891 building, masking a classic, wooden false front. The false front disguised a gable roof, making the frontier building appear more sophisticated than it actually was. Later rear additions expanded…

Montgomery Ward opened its Kalispell store on July 27, 1929, just three months before the stock market crash that launched the Great Depression. Kalispell architect Fred Brinkman took inspiration from the Gothic style for his design of the…

As the tracks of the Great Northern Railway inched westward from St. Paul to Seattle, Flathead Valley towns vied for designation as the railway’s division point. In the spring of 1891, however, railroad officials purchased land from the Reverend…

Wide bracketed eaves, a gabled front porch, square columns, and a flared chimney identify this home as a premier example of the Craftsman style. Kalispell contractor Caesar Haverlandt built the home in 1912 for longtime school superintendent William…