The Great Northern Railway transported people and goods to, and through, northern Montana in the late 1880s and early 1900s. By the mid-1920s, however, automobile travel eclipsed rail travel. Soon, modern roads and new roadside service stations,…

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…

Since its completion in 1959, the Executive Residence has not only served as home for Montana’s first families, but also played an important part in the functioning of state government. It is the second such structure to fill that role. Initially,…

Downtown Helena expanded in the 1940s at its north end where there had previously been little development. This two-story Art Moderne-inspired office building reflects the industrial, streamlined architectural trends of the period. E. B. Benson of…

Constructed in 1907 during a period of robust city growth, the Babcock replaced the original Billings Opera House, which was destroyed in a catastrophic fire. Owners first planned a four-story commercial block, then a seven-story building, but only…

Locals initiated their town’s most ambitious school modernization effort in June 1938. Despite the still-lingering effects of the Great Depression, they voted overwhelmingly to support dramatic improvements to Bozeman’s public schools. Workers…

The Billings Investment Company built Billings’ first Northern Hotel on this site in 1902. It quickly became a regional social center. When the hotel burned in 1940, company president Preston Moss saw an opportunity to build a bigger, better,…

In 1865, Christopher Higgins, Francis Worden, and David Pattee constructed grist and lumber mills near where the Mullan Road (now Front Street) intersected with present day Higgins Avenue. Worden’s 1874 Carpenter Gothic home on East Pine, once a…

In 1934, at the height of the Great Depression, fire destroyed four Main Street buildings, including the First National Bank. When the economy recovered, local contractor V. E. Figg designed and constructed this 1940 commercial structure. With…

Montana’s governmental landscape is an evolving political and cultural expression with deep roots. The seeds of the capital city were planted with local gold discoveries in 1864. Helena became territorial capital in 1875. Upon statehood in 1889, the…