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…

Dr. Felix L. St. Jean and brick mason Joe Cosgrove commissioned local architect Herman Kemna to design this building in 1893. Though later owners remodeled the first-floor façade and renamed the building, the second story remains among the best…

Rapidly increasing demand for copper ore in the 1890s brought an influx of more than 5,000 new residents to the Smelter City between 1890 and 1900. To house them all, a fleet of carpenters built hundreds of cottages and multi-family units. This…

A corner location affords two views of this captivating home, built in the mid-1880s and first owned by Butte attorney Thomas Napton. By 1897, Eugene Carroll, who later became the long-time vice president and manager of the Butte Water Company,…

Interesting window placement is a hallmark of prominent Butte architect Charles M. Prentice and his own modified Italianate style residence, built circa 1898, provides an eye-catching example. Prentice alternated panels of full and half windows,…

John and Elizabeth Hawke moved into their newly constructed home circa 1903. The brick-veneered residence features an elegant two-story bay, which, along with the low hipped roofline and the brackets under the wide, projecting eaves, reflects the…

The exceptional preservation of this very elegant home can be attributed to the meticulous care of its few long-term owners. Built circa 1886-1888, the first resident was James Ross Clark, brother of copper magnate W. A. Clark. By 1906, John…

Prominent landowner and state senator Edward Donlan won a political victory in the 1906 legislature with the designation of Thompson Falls as county seat for Sanders County over the rival town of Plains. By compromise, most county posts were filled…

The Northern Pacific Railroad was the lifeblood of many small Montana towns like Forsyth, which was founded in 1882 to serve as an operations base for rail crews. Since unmarried men filled most railroad positions, towns like Forsyth had need of…

Captain William Clark trekked through this area on his journey down the Yellowstone River in 1806. By the time General George Armstrong Custer passed by en route to the Little Bighorn in 1876, homesteads dotted the area. As the Northern Pacific…