An 1886 fire destroyed the one-story tin shop and hardware warehouse that originally occupied this lot. Two year later, meat merchant and rancher John Harvat purchased the property. Livingston’s premier Gilded Age architect, I. J. Galbraith,…

After fire destroyed most of this side of Main Street in 1886, Chicago lawyer and financier James A. Danforth invested in building this double-front, brick commercial building. The original façade featured tall plate-glass windows divided by central…

Fred Bottler came to Montana over the Bozeman Trail in 1865, moving circa 1868 to the Upper Yellowstone, where he and brother Phil claimed 320 acres. Fred was a commercial hunter, supplying thousands of wolf pelts and elk hides to the New York…

Charles Garnier—Livingston mayor and cigar manufacturer—teamed up with businessman, brick manufacturer, and real estate developer A. W. Miles to construct this dignified addition to the commercial district. They hired one of the architects…

Made with a hand-operated press, cast concrete block was virtually unheard of in 1900. By 1906, however, when developer Charles Hefferlin contracted architect F. H. Palmer to design this two-story commercial block, over a thousand companies…

A few years after Livingston Memorial Hospital opened in February 1955, the Livingston Enterprise reported, “This neat, modern building will hold a prominent position in the lives of Livingston residents for years to come. For some it will be their…

A Jewish immigrant from Poland, tailor Henry Frank first arrived in Montana in 1867. He and his wife Barbara followed the Northern Pacific Railroad to Livingston, where they built the city’s first brick business block in 1883 on East Park. In 1890,…

Fire destroyed the first commercial building on this lot in 1886, but owner Walter Ayrault quickly invested $1,000 to replace it. In 1901, the Northern Pacific Railroad expanded its repair shops, ensuring Livingston’s growth; the next year, C. H.…

By 1884, a barbershop and restaurant occupied a one-story frame building on this lot. Fire destroyed much of Main Street in 1886, but owner Frederick Wright quickly rebuilt, again of wood. Saloons, restaurants, and barbershops remained the primary…

When the Northern Pacific Railroad announced plans to build a branch line to Yellowstone National Park in the early 1880s, the small town of Gardiner quickly emerged as a “wild west” town. Early accounts labeled it “a veritable Shantyville . . . an…